It Takes Two
by Michaela-writes
Summary: Behind every cloud there is a silver lining. After the night, there is day – there is light. There is hope again.
1. Prologue

**SORRY!!!**

**The previous one I posted, I realized, was more of a chapter than a prologue. So I put up a new one instead. **

**The story is more than halfway done, I think. I really don't want to rush things to avoid making any grammatical errors or confusing any scenes.**

**-MW-**

* * *

Before you, my life was like a moonless night. Very dark, but there were stars—

points of light and reason… And then you shot across my sky like a meteor.

Suddenly everything was on fire; there was brilliancy, there was beauty.

When you were gone, when the meteor had fallen over the horizon, everything went black.

Nothing had changed, but my eyes were blinded by the light.

I couldn't see the stars anymore.

And there was no more reason for anything.

**New Moon**

**Chapter 23, p.514**

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**Again, I apologize for the mistake.**

**I promise to try and make this worth your while.**

**-MW-**


	2. Chapter One

**So, this is my first chapter. I had to upload this because there's some trouble with the uploading thing...**

**Anyway, I decided to publish this one first so I can fix the problem.**

**The songs down there are the songs I was listening to while I was writing the chapter, so maybe you'd like to listen to them as well while reading.**

**Enjoy! :)**

**-MW-**

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Chapter 1

"Yesterday – Leona Lewis"

Bella's POV

You wanna know what I keep thinking about? That Sunday morning we spent together before you left for that meeting with Carlisle. I got up early and made your favorite breakfast because that was the day you guys were finally going to legalize your partnership. I was so thrilled for you. And everything seemed to be going right that day. I mean, how could it not, right? If I remember correctly, the sun was shining so brilliantly through the kitchen windows, the air was crisp and clean, and I didn't leave the pancakes on the stove for so long this time. I remember you didn't fail to point that out.

I took in a deep breath and smoothed the skirt of my black dress. I walked over to my full length mirror and examined myself, but all I saw was you. In me. I saw your hair color, your eyes… I saw you. I looked down, willing the tears not to come, hoping that all of this would just go away. Then I broke into sobs, holding my chest tightly, trying to breathe properly again.

After a while, I got up and fixed my appearance again. This would be the 8th time I've done that now. My mascara was all over my face, my cheeks now overly red as well as my nose from all the crying.

"At least put some lipstick on!" Alice would have said to lighten up the mood. My best friend, always trying to be the optimist.

I didn't care for my appearance anymore. I could look like a garbage dump for all I knew, and my father still would have told me that I was the most beautiful thing in the world. So I just wiped my tears and mascara off my face, ran my hands through my hair a few times and headed out the door.

My room was right next to the stairs so the moment I stepped out, I already heard the sobs and murmurs from downstairs. I shut the door quietly and slowly trudged down the stairs, my feet feeling like they weigh a ton.

I stopped halfway down the stairs and sat on a step, scanning the room below. _Nothing._ All their faces are just blurs to me. But I did see Alice with her family in the far corner of the room. She was looking around for someone and stopped when we locked eyes. Her eyes were very soft and apologetic and I returned her expression with the only thing I could give her at the moment: emptiness. I felt so, so empty without my dad. Ever since my mom left when I was 7, we were all we had. We learned to support each other through everything. Even though I didn't understand what he did for a living that much back then, I always tried to be there for him, especially when he came home from a bad day at work.

I looked at Alice again only to find her gone from her previous position and from the corner of my eye, I saw her make her way up the stairs, approaching me slowly.

"Bella…" she sat and put an arm around me. She sighed and I leaned on her shoulder. We sat like that for a few minutes until she started again. "Bella,"

"I know." The host should never be absent when there is a gathering of his invitation. One of the lessons my father taught me. I took a deep breath, stood up and made my way down the stairs with Alice following behind me.

How could you leave me, dad? All these people… How could you leave me to fend for myself over here? You know how much I hate crowds. Talking about you in the past tense… And perverted old Mr. Black. I'd really like it if he didn't touch me so much. He's so creepy, I always told you. I wish he'd get his hands off of me right now. Who does that anyway?

"Bella!" a gruff voice said from beside Mr. Black. _Oh thank goodness!_

"Emmett." I immediately excused myself and went straight into Emmett's arms. He was Alice's older brother and he treated me like his sister as well. He was tall, with a body like a bodybuilder, his muscles were huge. Sometimes I was afraid that he'd squish me to death.

"Hey, Bella." a softer voice came next to Emmett. I looked over his arm to see a tall blonde woman, who was so gorgeous that simply looking at her would take a shot at your self-esteem.

"Rosalie…" I hugged her next. "How was Alaska?" Rosalie and Emmett had been in Alaska for the last few months vacationing, but they took the first flight out of there when Alice called and told them the news.

"We can talk about that later, sis. Right now is something more important." We weren't actually sisters. My dad unofficially adopted Rose and her brother, Jasper, when their mom ran off too with another man ten years ago. I was just ecstatic to have more siblings in the family. I gave her a weak smile and noticed that there were a few more people standing close to us.

"We're all here for you, Bella." Someone said behind Rose. He had blond wavy hair and wasn't as tall or as built as Emmett. He wasn't alone though, next to him was a couple that looked more like teenagers than adults. They both had fair skin but the man had light blonde hair while the woman had a brown-caramel color to hers.

"Jasper… Esme… Carlisle…" I went over and hugged all three of them as best as I could, but my arms weren't that long.

The Swans and Cullens have been competing in the corporate world for as long as I can remember now. But ever since my dad and Carlisle ended that foolish game, things have been going better than ever, especially now that the companies were interdependent.

"We're so sorry for your loss, Bella," Esme said. How come when she said it, it didn't sound like she was saying it merely out of formality? It felt so sincere. She looked down at her feet, shifting her weight and then with hesitance in her eyes she said, "I know that it's too soon, but, we want you to know that you are always welcome in our home." She said with a smile.

This time it was Carlisle who spoke, "I know that all of this" he gestured to the room with his hand "can be quite overwhelming, but we just want you to know that we are always here for you - whatever you need. Charlie wouldn't want you to be alone, especially now." He said.

I started to tear up, feeling nothing but pure sincerity coming from them.

"Thank you so much… I know that you and my father were very close, and I really appreciate everything you've done for us…" I said as I gave them a hug.

"Aw, come on, Bella! Now you're going to make me cry!" Emmett said with mock tears as he gathered us all in his arms and gave us a bear hug.

Even tangled with the Cullens in Emmett's death grip, I couldn't help but smile, a real smile for the first time. I could feel the love glowing from them, and it was infectious. This is what I know what me and my father had. What, I know now, I will never stop having because of these wonderful people.

* * *

A passer-by would have simply thought, judging from everybody's dark attire, that a funeral was being held. But the people present here, mourning my father's death, knew better. We were mourning the death of a great man. A man who, not only loved the people around him and what he did but succeeded in it as well…

"My father's business wasn't the only outstanding thing about him. He had many friends from all over the world. Everybody loved him, some would even confide in him about anything.

"Even if he had his own problems to deal with, whether it was at work or at home, he always stepped up to the plate. He gave everything he had into whatever he did because he believed that people deserved the best. He believed that every human had untapped potential within them, that they needed to harness their greatness and put it to good use to make the world a better place. He believed in the goodness of people's hearts, hence his many charities to others like the joint Charity Ball we have every year..."

* * *

I told you so, dad. I don't think anybody understood what I was talking about up there. You see that guy in the back texting on his phone? And there's a woman in the middle that looks like she could break the lawn chair anytime now, I'm guessing she's trying to balance herself on it. Some guy in the second row had the nerve to fall asleep! And creepy Mr. Black over there just keeps wiggling his eyebrows at any woman he makes eye contact with.

"And now, let us bow our heads and have a moment of silence for our dear friend, Charles Swan." I was standing next to the priest now, and after what I saw during my speech, I just had to look at everyone.

It wasn't so bad, I guess. Everyone had their heads bowed, although I'm pretty sure there were some disrespectful bastards here that just dozed off. Can you believe it? I exhaled sharply, continuing on. I saw the people I was looking for all sitting in the first row, I made sure to sit them as close to the front as possible so I could see them from where I stood. Rose and Emmett were holding hands while Rose was trying hard to not cry, Jasper was hugging Alice's shaking body while she cried hysterically and had his head hung low, Carlisle sat next to them, embracing Alice as well, and then that's when I saw him.

He had his arms wrapped around Esme who was hunched forward, crying and didn't seem like she would stop for a very long time. He was hunched forward as well, his bronze-haired head faced towards Esme while his hand was moving up and down her upper arm, soothing her, I could barely make out what he was saying. Who is this guy? If he was so close to the Cullens, how come I've never seen him before?

* * *

Everyone was standing around his grave, probably thinking that he's in a better place now. I'm sure he is. I'm sure he never regretted anything in his life, even me…

_-FLASHBACK-_

_I was 7 years old again, playing with Rosalie in my dad's living room while Jasper was playing "House" with Alice, or rather, Alice was playing him. My mom and dad got divorced early into their marriage. Knowing my dad, I was sure that he really loved my mom and would stay with her no matter what, but my mom was a free spirit. She loved to try different things and never got around to finishing them. I lived with my mom at that time, but she still brought me over to my dad's every now and then._

_That afternoon, my mom was in a hurry to get to my dad's place for some reason. But before we left our house, she took all my stuff and packed them into a few duffle bags._

"_Mommy, are we moving?" _

_She suddenly turned pale and gripped the steering wheel so hard, I could see her knuckles turn white. Her lips pressed into a hard line before she answered me,_

"_No, sweetheart, mommy just has some business to take care of so you'll have to stay with daddy for a while." She replied in a monotone voice._

"_How long will you be gone?" I asked innocently._

_And if it was possible, she turned even paler._

"_I… I'm not sure. But don't worry. You'll be with daddy this time! Doesn't that sound like fun?" I just nodded and stayed quiet after that. I loved both my parents, but if I really thought about it, I think I loved my dad more. Even if he lived so far away from us at that time, it was like he was there more than my mom ever was. She would be out almost every night with a different guy, claiming him to be 'The One'. I didn't understand how she could say that about every guy. Shouldn't love be more sacred than a one night stand?_

"_So, Bella," Rose's voice sang. Even as a child, she was the most beautiful girl I have ever seen. Well, there goes my self-esteem._

"_What do you wanna play today?"_

_I put my hand up to my chin and thought for a moment "How about we just go with a board game today?"_

"_Okay!"_

_5 wins and 9 losses on Snakes and Ladders later, I heard the yelling._

"_I said take it, Charlie!!"_

"_Renee, why are you doing this?? Do you really want to leave this way?? At least give her some time!"_

"_There is no time for me, Charlie!" She held out her left hand in front of him. "Phil and I are getting married…"_

_There I saw it. The diamond engagement ring sitting on my mother's left ring finger. I saw this coming and I'm sure my dad did too. I guess he still had feelings for my mom. But what I couldn't understand why they were yelling about all of this. I mean, it was bound to happen, right?_

_Rose, Alice, Jasper and I stopped playing and moved to get a better view of the kitchen, where my parents were._

_My dad shook his head and looked at my mom in her eyes with a hard expression. _

"_What about Bella? What are you going to do with her? Just leave her here?"_

_She scoffed and crossed her arms. "She's always liked you more than me. It was so obvious, all these years. So it shouldn't be a problem."_

"_Renee, you can't just do that to Bella! At least talk to her!"_

"_Why?! She's a brat! A difficult child! Which is why Phil and I don't want her!"_

_I could feel Rose shaking violently next to me. She was angry and I was scared for her. Even in such a short time, we've already learned to love each other like real sisters. So I put my hand on her shoulder to try and calm her down a little. Thankfully, it worked._

"_Do not call her a brat! She is the only daughter we have, Renee! Have a heart!" My dad retorted._

"_NO! No! No! No! NO!" She stomped her foot on the floor many times. My mom was crying now, and angry at the same time._

"_What do you mean 'No'?!"_

"_I never wanted her, Charlie! I never wanted her! She was a mistake! What we did back then was a mistake! She was an accident that happened and ruined my chances of reaching my dreams!"_

_Everything went quiet after that. The only thing we could hear was Renee's sobs echo throughout the house. _

_She never wanted me? She thought I was a mistake? She never wanted me…………………………_

"_Bella?" my mother gasped._

_My dad then spotted me and ran to me with worried and apologetic eyes. Was he sorry? Why? What did he have to apologize for? My own mother's the one that said I was the worst thing that's ever happened to her. Why was he the one saying sorry?_

"_Bella, honey, I am so sorry, sweetheart. I am so sorry you had to hear all of that…" he said. He was kneeling in front of me know so our eyes were level with each other. I just stepped closer to him and wrapped my little 7-year-old arms around my dad's neck._

"_I love you, daddy. I'm not mad." I sobbed. _

"_Bella?? I am so sorry…" He cooed while stroking my hair._

"_I-It's o-okay, d-d-dad… *hic* I'm n-n-not *hic*… *hic* I'm just r-r-r-really s-sad…"_

"_Oh, sweetheart, I am so sorry... Daddy doesn't think you're a mistake or an accident. Daddy loves you, baby. So, so much. You hear me, kiddo? Daddy loves YOU! No matter what anyone else says! Don't ever forget that! Shh… Shh… Stop crying now… Shh…"_

"_*hic* I-I lo-ove y-y-y-you, d-daddy…"_

_-END FLASHBACK-_

I could feel the number of people decreasing as the minutes pass. As soon as I thought I was alone, I sat down next to my father's grave, running my hands across the fresh soil that covered his casket six feet below. There were white roses scattered everywhere, from all the people that dedicated each of them to him. I gathered as much as I could so I could make a bouquet and place it in the middle of the long rectangle shape in the ground. Then I heard about two pairs of footsteps walk up to me from behind.

"Bella… Are you alright?" Alice's soprano voice said. I knew I couldn't ask her to stay. She and her family had done more than enough for me already, and I knew she was just as affected by this as I was. Charlie treated Rose and Alice like they were his own daughters as well. He loved them both down to the last fiber of their being.

I responded without moving my eyes away from the white bouquet resting on the dark soil.

"I'm fine, Alice, really. You should go home, be with your family." I knew that sounded so morbid of me, especially considering the current situation. But I didn't want Alice to miss a second being with her family, especially since her family is so wonderful and… whole.

"Are you sure? I could stay…"

"No. You – go." I replied firmly.

She sighed and gave in, "Alright. Call me if you need anything. At all."

"Thank you, Alice."

"Anytime, Bella. Oh and don't stay out here too late. I heard it was supposed to rain really hard tonight."

"I won't."

"Bye, Bella." I could tell from the sounds that the grass made that she walked a few steps from where she came, then she stopped.

"Let's go." She said to someone. Alice started walking again while the person stayed silent for a while. There was a light thump on one of the chairs and then the person started walking away as well. I heard the purr of an engine start and then drive away, the sound growing softer as the distance greater.

I sighed. "Hey, Dad… Big day, huh?" I spoke to the ground.

Then I just couldn't hold it in any longer. I let it all out – my feelings, frustrations, tears, sobs. I wouldn't stop crying. I lay myself slowly beside his grave and curled up into a ball. I couldn't handle anymore of this. When people all stared earlier, I pretended like I couldn't hear them talk. I knew that their words would only make the truth clearer to me: you're not coming back. I couldn't accept that fact. Not yet. I wasn't ready to let him go. He meant too much for me to just forget about him so easily.

I lay there, next to my father, cold and wet. The rain came when I had stopped crying minutes ago, I guess I was dehydrated or something. I found that the more I tried not to think about anything, the more I thought about something. So eventually, I just… stopped thinking. I was absent-mindedly moving the soil around lightly with my fingers, not wanting to think about anything anymore when I suddenly sneezed.

I rolled over so that I was lying on my back now, and I looked up at the sky. It was dark and the only light I had was the lamp post next to the road where I parked my car. I sat up and looked down to my father's grave,

"I gotta go now, dad. But I'll be back, okay? I love you." I kissed my hand and placed it on top of his grave.

I stood up and shook off the bits of grass that clung to my dress and hair and I took one last look around the earlier crowded place: the white foldable chairs were in disarray, white petals were scattered all over the ground. I felt sorry for whoever had to clean all this up. And then I saw something sitting on the chair closest to me, I had to squint my eyes a little to see through the rain…

It was an umbrella. A yellow umbrella.

"Somebody must have left it here…" I mumbled. I sneezed one more time as the wind picked up. Not caring about who owned it anymore, I grabbed and opened the umbrella, held it over my head and made my way to my car, bracing myself for the bitter loneliness I had already begun to feel.

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**R&R please! :)**

**Constructive criticism = very much welcomed.**

**-MW-**


	3. Chapter Two

**Personally, I like writing in Edward's POV better because it's easier. I have no idea why, though.**

**So far, this is the chapter I liked writing the best.**

**Enjoy! :)**

**-MW-**

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Chapter 2

"You Can't Break A Broken Heart – Kate Voegele"

Edward POV

I wanna know why on earth you thought this would look good on me. Red is not my color.

But you loved that color, which is why I let you buy this for me in the first place. I think that's the only reason I ever let you buy me things. It didn't matter to me if it made me look stupid, as long as you loved whatever it was, I let you get it for me. It didn't matter that you fed me three servings of shrimp on our anniversary – which I was deathly allergic to by the way. It didn't matter to me how badly my feet were aching after six straight hours of shopping and you barely even bought anything in any of those stores, because you made me feel like the luckiest man alive.

Whenever we were together, all of my insecurities and reservations just disappeared. When I'd come home from work, you'd be the first one to welcome me home and have dinner ready. You understood my hectic schedule; whether I was working late again or a business trip to the other end of the world that couldn't wait until the morning.

But that was it, wasn't it? I was gone a lot. I never really had enough time to spend with you. I was too focused, keeping my eyes on the prize. But, as always, you understood. I've been working for this for all of my life, and you understood that I needed to be away so often.

You know, sometimes I'd wish that you weren't so kind. Sometimes I wanted you to get mad at me for coming home late, or forgetting that it was my turn to pick out a movie for our movie marathons. Maybe something like that would have knocked some sense into me. Maybe… Maybe if I wasn't busy working, and maybe if I hadn't turned my phone off that night, you would still be here with me, Tanya.

I stood up from my leather swivel chair and made my way to the window across the room that had a view overlooking the city. This, I thought, was supposed to be it. I was finally at the top. After years and years of convincing my father that I was ready to take over the company for him, after all those late nights and all those meetings, I was finally here. But something inside me, that little nagging voice, was telling me that there was much more to be done. I just shrugged it off. Maybe it was about co-planning that Charity Ball with the Swans. Yeah, that must be it. It was the highlight of both the companies, and nothing was ever underdone.

But wasn't their company having some problems right now? Carlisle told me that they were. He said that he wasn't even sure if there would be any social events hosted by the Swans this year. What was that supposed to mean?

"Mr. Cullen?"

I turned around to see that my assistant, Lauren, was standing halfway through my doorway.

"Yes, Lauren?" Did I have a meeting that I didn't know about?

"Sir, your father would like to have a word with you." She answered.

"Did he say about what?"

"No, sir."

"Alright. Thank you. Tell him I'll be there in a minute."

"Yes, sir."

I sighed and ran my hands through my hair. Whenever my father wanted to 'have a word' with me, he'd usually take the opportunity to convince me that I didn't have to run this company. He always thought that I just used it as a distraction from what happened a year ago.

I went out the door and made my way to my father's office on the upper level.

Okay, fine, maybe I was using work as a distraction. But putting that aside, who else was going to run this place when he retired? Emmett? I snorted. I don't think so.

"Hello, James." I greeted my father's assistant.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Cullen."

"Is he busy?" I asked.

"No, he just got out of a meeting with the board."

The board?

"Thanks, James."

"You're welcome, sir."

I did three quick knocks on the frosted glass door and took a look inside. Sure enough, there was my father, sitting on one of his single couches, looking out the window. He seemed to be thinking about something important because his hands were together, with his chin resting on top – something he always did.

I cleared my throat to get his attention.

"Oh, Edward! Come in!" I walked into his office and sat in the seat across from him, blocking his view of the city.

"You… wanted to see me?"

"Yes, yes…" He trailed off. He had that look on his face again that showed he was thinking of something important. I coughed to get his attention.

"Sorry," he smiled sheepishly at me.

"So, to what do I owe the pleasure?" I asked. I wanted to get back to my work as soon as possible.

"You remember Charles Swan, right?"

"Of course," He was the CEO and founder of Swan Corp. "Why?"

He took a long moment to answer me. I saw a lot of sadness in his eyes. I learned over the years that Carlisle and Charlie were very good friends. Something must have happened to him.

"He died of a heart attack. His funeral's today." He said, looking at me, smiling sadly. I had no response to that, so I just waited for my father to continue.

"There is a… gathering in his house, and a service in the cemetery."

"I'll be there, dad." I promised.

Then his mouth turned into this smile, the kind that I only saw once before when I'd told him what I had planned for me and Tanya.

"But that's not the reason why I called you here," he started, "I don't like to beat around the bush, son, so I'll just come out and say it," he took in a deep breath and said the words that made me almost want to smile again, like I did with Tanya.

"I'm giving you the company."

I sat there, across from my father, thinking… Well, I wasn't thinking. My mind wasn't exactly working at that moment. I was too overjoyed! The company's mine?

"Really?" I said above a whisper, a smile beginning to form itself on my face. I cannot believe this is happening to me. I cannot wait to tell Ta –

My heart suddenly fell and the smile immediately turned into a hard line.

_She's gone, remember?_ My inner voice said.

_She's never coming back, and it's all your fault._

"Edward?" my father's voice rang.

"Yes…"

He sighed. I knew that he knew what I was thinking about. He told me that he'd been hoping that my wounds would be able to heal from what happened a year ago.

I pinched the bridge of my nose, something I did, my mother noticed, whenever I was feeling any negative emotion.

A year ago I fell in love with a wonderful woman named Tanya Denali. A year ago I began to feel something for someone that wasn't my family. I began to care for something other than work, I was able to put somebody else's needs before mine. A year ago, one night, I was swimming in paperwork so I locked myself in my office to be able to finish them on time so I turned off my phone, and it wasn't until later on that I heard the voicemail that Tanya left for me, telling me she was on her way to be with me, and then I heard tires screech and the collision –

"There is one condition."

My head shot up at this. A condition?

"A condition?" I repeated.

"Yes."

"What is it?" I've come too far to let this slip away now. So whatever condition he had, I was ready for it.

"Again, I'll get straight to the point… Edward, I want you to have a life outside of this place."

I raised my eyebrow, trying to understand his condition. This seriously confused me.

"I don't understand."

He sighed and then chuckled lightly, as if laughing at his own private joke.

"Last year…"

Oh.

"Last year…" he repeated "wasn't a good year for all of us. I know how you feel, son. Believe me, I do. I loved her like she was one of my own."

"I know, dad." I clenched my fists. Talking about what happened – to anyone, even my own family – never helped me even try to get over it.

Silence followed. This was unusual for the two of us, whenever we talked.

"She would want you to move on, son."

_I know_, my heart told me. But my head said otherwise,

"You cannot honestly believe that I can love another girl like I loved Tanya!!!" I couldn't take it anymore. Was he serious? How could any other woman replace her? She was one of a kind. Nobody could ever compare to her!

"I meant, move on with your life."

"She was my life!" I said harshly. I couldn't look him in the eyes anymore. I would've snapped if I didn't get out of here soon. So I stood up and briskly walked to the door when his next words stopped me.

"Edward, you will follow through with this. Your trust fund is still under my name, as well as this company."

Was he serious?

"You're holding them hostage?" I asked incredulously. I've been of age for four years now, what makes him think he can stop me from even taking my trust fund?

"The company owns the bank, Edward." He said, as if he knew what I was thinking.

Carlisle sighed and stood up. I could hear him approaching me from behind.

"Edward," he said, this time his voice was gentle.

"I don't want this to ruin your chances at a normal life."

I bit my lip, hard, then spoke,

"Dad, I doubt my life will ever be normal again."

He sighed one more time.

"Edward, you will try." His voice rang with finality.

I couldn't stand to be in here anymore. So I swung the door open, leaving him in there before calling out over my shoulder,

"I'll see you at the funeral."

* * *

"He cannot be serious!" I said to myself, pacing around my office. I was going to dig a hole on where I was standing. I tried to be rational; I thought of all the pros and cons in this situation:

Pros:

Tanya would have wanted this. She made me promise her. She said that if ever anything were to happen to her, she would want me to keep living my life.

Cons:

I would never be able to do it.

I sat on my black leather couch and put my head in my hands, contemplating on all these thoughts when suddenly, an idea started forming itself in my head.

My father wanted me to have a life outside this office. That was the requirement I had to meet before he handed over to me his company and my trust fund. So, I just had to have an extra-curricular activity of some sort like a sport or a book club. But that would only get in the way of my work here, and while I knew I had to have something in my life other than work, I didn't want to be slacking off either.

"So, what would be the easiest and most convenient?" I asked myself.

Suddenly my phone rang. I checked the caller ID and flipped the silver gadget open.

"Alice." I greeted my sister.

"Edward, are you picking us up for the funeral?" her voice was scratchy and she was sobbing a little, probably from crying. Charlie Swan was like a second father to her, and my father didn't mind. He was glad that Charlie was so close to all of us, except for me. I was too busy, even back then, trying to get my father to see that I was capable to run this company by myself. I was never around enough.

"Are you alright, Ali?"

"Y-yeah… I'm fine." She sniffed.

"What time do you need me?" I asked, trying to distract her.

"Um, well, the gathering's going to be at three o'clock. "

I checked my watch for the time, "2:30," I said to myself.

"What?" Alice asked.

"Nothing, just checking the time," I got up from my position on the couch and started putting away the files I was working on earlier.

"I'll see you in 5, Al." I said, checking my attire to make sure I didn't have to waste more time by changing. Black slacks, black tie, white shirt, black jacket… _Good enough_, I thought.

"Alright. See you, Edward."

After flipping my phone shut, my earlier thoughts came back to me.

What was I going to do about that ridiculously trite condition?

* * *

We drove up to the Swan residence in silence since I picked up my sister and my mother, Esme. There was some pleasant conversation every now and then between the both of them, but other than that, not a word was said.

"We're here," I said to both of them. They both got out of the car at the same time but before turning to leave, Alice turned to me,

"Bring the umbrella, it's supposed to rain today. We'll be in the front row," she said looking at the long line of cars on her left.

"I'll be there,"

"I'll see you in there, Edward," I nodded my head in response then went on my way to find a parking space.

* * *

Glancing at my watch, I cursed under my breath realizing that I had missed the gathering. Who knew that so many people were invited to Charlie's funeral? I certainly didn't. I ran as fast as I could with my umbrella in my hand. When I got to the Swans' house, they were all out in the backyard, saying their last words. Everybody's heads were hung low, so I took this opportunity to sneak into my seat.

_Front row, front row, front row… Aha!_

Before I sat down, I took a quick look at Charlie's daughter. She was standing next to the priest, her head hung low, like everybody else's. Her hands were together in front of her and her long brown hair was swaying as the wind came. I could tell that her eyes weren't closed because I saw some movement from her eyelids, it looked like she was blinking back tears. I felt sorry for this girl… She just lost her father and now she has to deal with all these people – half of whom she probably doesn't even know at all – and she has to take over her father's company all by herself at such a young age. And as far as I knew, she only had two adopted siblings, Rosalie and Jasper Hale, both of whom were sitting in the same row as we were and not up there with her. I suppose it didn't feel right to them.

I took the empty seat at the end next to Esme. She was crying hysterically and as soon as she saw me beside her, she fell into me and I had to put my arms around her to keep her from completely breaking down. I tried to speak into hear ear as much as possible to get her to sit up a little while I rubbed her upper arm up and down, trying to comfort her,

"Shh… It's okay, mom, it's okay…" I repeated to her barely above a whisper.

* * *

Being in a cemetery didn't appeal to me one bit. It reminded me of death wherever I looked, for obvious reasons. And my thoughts of death just kept bringing me back to Tanya. Everything I saw, everything I touched, reminded me of some memory we had together. So I would understand if Charlie's daughter didn't want to have anything to do with the world after this. I suppose I had it easier than she, I mean, I still had all of my family with me. But all the same, I can genuinely sympathize with her right now.

As I was watching everybody drop a single white rose one by one on the ground around Charlie's grave, realization dawned upon me… I loved Tanya, with all of my heart. And I know she loved me too. Nothing could change that. But if there was some way that all this could be put behind me, that my heart wouldn't ache for her so much, that I wouldn't be hurting anymore… Wouldn't her love for me be able to finally set me free?

"Bella…" So that's her name. "Are you alright?" Alice asked the girl.

Bella didn't look away from her father's grave when she answered,

"I'm fine, Alice, really. You should go home, be with your family."

"Are you sure? I could stay…" Alice insisted.

"No. You – go." She said with finality.

Alice sighed. It was so unlike her to give up.

"Alright. Call me if you need anything. At all."

"Thank you, Alice." Bella responded.

"Anytime, Bella. Oh and don't stay out here too late. I heard it was supposed to rain really hard tonight."

"I won't."

"Bye, Bella." Alice walked back to me, and with a tired look in her eyes she turned her head to me. She'd be asleep even before she got in the car.

"Let's go." She walked back to the car first. I stayed behind for a while, trying to convey a silent message to Bella. I tried to tell her with my mind that everything was going to be okay.

Losing someone you love is never the easiest thing in the world. And whether you know it or not, it can and will drastically change your life forever. At first, it would seem like everything is crashing down around you. You find yourself putting up walls and thinking, 'There is nothing for me anymore.' And it will look like that at first, because everything you see around you will remind you of how good things used to be, how you wish things would go back to being that way. Every memory breaks your heart piece by piece. Everything you hear makes you want to become deaf to the words you know will never be spoken again. Every single thing will tear you apart.

But none of that means that the world _is _going to end. It's times like this that give you the chance to start again. Not to escape from the pain, but to genuinely renew yourself and create from it something that you will be proud of one day. Because behind every dark cloud is a silver lining. After the night, there is day – there is light. There is hope again.

Knowing Charlie, he would have probably already said something like that to her in some point in her life. That didn't stop me from trying, anyway. As far as I could see, this girl was all alone now. Sitting on the ground, next to her father, I could tell she was saying goodbye. I took this as my cue to leave but not before leaving the yellow umbrella I was holding on one of the chairs.

_She'd be needing this_, I thought, then made my way towards the car. I started the engine and drove down the road, trying to see through the rain.

As I was approaching a stoplight at red, staring at it, I tried to ask for a sign. Anything that would tell me I was free. I want to be free. Free from the anger I felt towards myself, free from the regret I feel when I wake up every morning, free from the self-pity I drown in because I was too much of a coward to start living again, but most of all… free from the scathing wounds that Tanya's death had left on my spirit.

_Please… Give me a sign… Tanya… _

And then it turned green.

* * *

**R&R please! :)**

**-MW-**


	4. Chapter Three

**Hulloooo!**

**Here's the next chapter. **

**I'm adding what I have so far already.**

**Enjoy! :)**

**-MW-**

* * *

Chapter 3

"Good Girls Go Bad – Cobra Starship ft. Leighton Meester"

**TWO YEARS LATER.**

Bella POV

"What do you mean the Seattle branch has no money?!" I yelled into the earpiece.

_This cannot be happening to me_, I thought. Today was the most important day of the month. Not only do I have a meeting with Carlisle – the person who helped my father rebuild this company – but I have to be home in an hour to get ready for my own party.

Today I turn 24 years old, and somehow, Alice convinced me to have a birthday bash in some night club, telling me that soon enough, we'd be too old to get into one. She even pulled out all the stops: save the dates, invitations, a DJ, a caterer – the works.

"No! You better find out what happened over there! Or so help me God I will--!!!" I really disliked dealing with incompetent people. I thought I'd heard a knock on the door, but maybe that was just my head throbbing from all this stress, so I ignored it.

"Fine! Then get HIM on the phone!" There was a long pause on the other end.

"NOW!!!" I slammed the earpiece on the wooden desk. I pushed a button on the intercom and told Jessica, my assistant, to call me when everything in Seattle got straightened out.

I sighed. Today was not my day. I made my way across the room towards the door to get a muffin in the cafeteria. I reached for the handle when someone on the other side beat me to it.

Now, I don't know about you, but after this incident, I'd personally prefer it if most doors opened outwards instead.

The door swung inwards with such force that it slammed into my forehead and knocked me back. I fell and landed on one side of the couch near it, holding on to the arm to keep myself up.

"Ow!"

"I am so sorry!" a velvety voice said. Holding my forehead, I looked up into the most hypnotizing green eyes I have ever seen. I could not stop staring into those eyes. It's like they held in them all the secrets of the world, and I was just dying to find out. Then I noticed the thick bronze hair, the cheekbones, the shape of his eyebrows that were bent down with worry – everything about this man was beautiful.

"I am so sorry, I did knock." Oh, so that was him. He helped me up from my place and took a closer look at the bruise on my face.

"Miss Swan?" I heard Jessica's voice say. "Mr. Cullen has – Oh. Well, I'll leave you now…"

"Excuse me?" I heard his voice again.

"Y-Yes?" I could tell Jessica was mentally drooling over Mr. Cull – wait a minute.

"Could we please have some ice and a towel?"

"Sure. I'll be right back with those."

I stood up properly now, smoothening out my top and hair. "You're Mr. Cullen?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. He smiled, and that alone was enough to make my head throb even more.

"Were you expecting someone else?"

"I was, actually. Maybe someone older, blonde…"

"Aren't I blonde?"

"No, your hair's more like a bronze shade that…" I started to blush when I noticed him staring with this amused expression on his face. I cleared my throat to save myself from any further embarrassment.

There was a knock on the door and Jessica came back in with the towel and ice. I sat down on the couch and held the ice pack up to the bruised area of my face.

"So, where is Carlisle?" He still had that expression on his face. _Great._

"My father sent me for the monthly meeting instead. Good practice, he said, for when I…" he trailed off. Then he got very quiet for a moment and turned to face me with a smile.

"I'm very sorry, where are my manners? My name is Edward Cullen, Carlisle's son." He held out his hand for me to take.

"Bella Swan." I replied, taking his hand in my own.

"It's very nice to finally meet you, Ms. Swan." I raised my eyebrow at this.

"'Finally'?" I said, dropping my hand on my lap.

"Yes, the first and last time I saw you was two years ago, on the day of your father's…" he trailed off.

"I see…" was all I said.

It was silent for a few more moments before he cleared his throat and began again,

"So, I heard that there was some trouble with Seattle?" he said, his voice even.

"Um…" I got up and gestured for him to follow me, we went over to my computer that was on my desk and opened the file I was looking for.

"As you can see in this graph, the numbers haven't been looking so great for the last few months. I got a call this morning from them, and apparently, they lost everything."

* * *

"I think we'll need more time to sort this out, Ms. Swan,"

"Just Bella, please," he smiled at that. If this guy wasn't working for his father, he'd definitely be a great model.

"Alright… Bella," he said it a little slower than I did, almost like he was trying to pronounce every syllable, "Then please feel free to call me Edward."

"Edward," he had a pretty old-fashioned name, but it seemed to suit him very well.

"We'll probably need to head down there sometime since it doesn't seem like it's going to take care of itself."

"I'll let me assistant schedule a trip." I said.

My phone suddenly rang and I answered it without checking the caller ID.

"Hello?"

"Bella!" I'd know that high soprano voice anywhere.

"Hey, you, what's up?"

"Do you have everything ready for tonight?"

I sighed and mouthed an 'excuse me' to Edward, I knew she was going to do this again. You see, Alice loves to plan things, hence the birthday party I am having tonight. She's really great at it and could actually make a business out of it, but sometimes, she liked to change things up at the last minute. And knowing Alice, that's never a good thing.

"Yes, _mother,_" I replied dryly.

"Okay good, so I hope you don't mind but I invited a few extra guests to your party tonight." Those 'extra guests' would only mean one thing.

"Wait a minute. How many times do I have to tell you, I really do not want to go on any blind dates right now! I've got a lot on my hands!" I said exasperated.

"Oh, come on, Bella! This will be good for you! It'll be fun!" she tried reasoning.

"Alice, no." I said with authority in my voice. I love Alive, but I had to draw the line somewhere.

"Oh, alright!" she submitted, "Just make sure you wear that dress we got, okay?"

"Yes, Alice, you know I will."

"See you tonight, Bella!"

"See you, Ali." I snapped the phone shut. Then a thought crossed my mind.

_That was way too easy._

Alice gave into me too fast. That can only mean that she plans to do exactly the opposite of what I asked her not to do. I turned around to face Edward again only to find his face in an amused expression.

"So, Alice, huh?" he said with no hint of surprise in his voice.

"You know it," I sighed, "I'm in for a ride tonight."

"Tonight?"

"Oh I'm sorry, you see, it's my birthday today and Alice convinced me to have this birthday bash at some night club, and now she's probably planning some speed dating-type thing for me to do at the party."

He laughed and said, "Yes, that does sound like Alice… Happy birthday, by the way. How old are you?"

"Thank you. I'm 24, and yourself?"

"25, last June." He said. We were staring at each other for a long time and I found myself drowning in those green eyes again. I sighed. Dazzling should be considered a crime. Then his face went from amused to serious in about half a second. He looked like he was calculating something in his head. Oh, God, he wasn't a pervert, was he? I hope not. I've had my fair share of those creeps and I'd really like to steer clear of them for the rest of my life.

For a minute, my mind flew back to the conversation I had with Alice earlier. I knew that I couldn't stop her from inviting those guys to my party tonight, and the moment I set foot into that night club, she'd grab me and introduce me to the first in line on her matchmaking prospects list. I was trying to think of ways to avoid having to go through that ordeal, when it struck me: _I need a date!_

I tried to think of anyone that would be my date tonight on such short notice, but most of them were already invited with plus ones or out of the country. I looked around the room, hoping to find the answer somewhere near, so I'd get this out of the way already. My eyes landed on Edward, staring again, as I thought about what Alice would say to my choice of date for tonight. Honestly, I didn't know what she would say, but I wasn't going to take any chances. Besides, this guy looks like a good sport…

Edward narrowed his eyes at me and I immediately felt like he was going to scrutinize my appearance. I tried to nonchalantly run my hands through my hair and fix my blouse when I realized that he was just staring into my eyes like before, as if he was trying to read me.

Then his mouth formed into a smile that looked like he finally found the answer he'd been looking for for a very long time. I bit my lower lip, forcing myself to just do it.

_Just say it! Come on! Ask him! NOW!!!_

No! It's too embarrassing! And he's Alice's _brother_, for crying out loud!

_So what?? A date's a date!_

Edward POV

"25, last June," I answered.

We were staring at each other for a long time when something clicked in my head. Something that I knew I had to do, something that would finally get me to where I have always wanted to be.

_There is one condition_, my father's voice rang in my ears.

A condition…

_-FLASHBACK-_

"_A condition?" I repeated._

"_Yes."_

"_What is it?" I've come too far to let this slip away now. So whatever condition he had, I was ready for it._

"_Again, I'll get straight to the point… Edward, I want you to have a life outside of this place."_

_I raised my eyebrow, trying to understand his condition. This seriously confused me._

_-_

"_So, what would be the easiest and most convenient?" I asked myself._

_-_

"_Your trust fund is still under my name, as well as this company."_

_-_

"_The company owns the bank, Edward."_

_-END FLASHBACK-_

A life outside the company… Move on with my life… Easy… Convenient…

I narrowed my eyes at Bella, trying to really see her. If I was going to do this, I was at least going to do this right, wasn't I? I know looks aren't everything but they do count for something. She had pale skin, almost as pale as mine, though, that blush earlier did look lovely on her cheeks. Overall, her appearance was above average. Surely any man would want to claim her as his own, just not me. But I had to put a good amount of time into this - it has to look like a real relationship. Everything else didn't matter to me. Besides, if anything went wrong, I could just tell my father that I tried. This girl wouldn't want to ruin business ties with our company as well, so everything was set.

I smiled and looked her over one last time, trying to think of a way to begin…

Bella POV

_Isabella Swan, you are such a wimp._

Shut up!!

_Just go for it! He's right there in front of you!_

What if he says no?

_What if he says yes?_

Oh, don't use that reverse psychology mumbo-jumbo crap on me.

_What are you talking about?_

You know what I'm talking about.

_I don't know what you know I'm talking about._

But you do know what I know what you know you're talking about.

_No, I really don't kno – WILL YOU JUST ASK HIM??_

Yeesh! Cool it! ...Great, I'm talking to myself internally.

I cleared my throat. "S-so, Edward, do you have any plans for tonight?" I said, trying to sound calm. But I'm pretty sure my voice going an octave higher gave me away.

"No, actually," he said smiling.

"Oh, cool…" It was silent again. *Gulp* What now?

_ASK HIM OUT TO THE PARTY!!!_

"Would you like to be my date to my party tonight?" I said as quickly as possible.

Now, I have never been rejected before in my life, mainly because I never went out with guys, even in high school or college. I always asked for more homework or some extra credit from my teachers so that I would have an excuse. It's not that the guys I've met are horrible or anything, some of them were actually very nice. I just never held any real interest for any of them. But then this guy comes along, and suddenly I felt like I'd jump out my window right now if he rejected me…

"I'd love to, Bella."

…or not.

I broke out into a huge smile and let out a breath I must have been holding in.

"Great! So umm… the party's at 7 and – "

"Bella, I'm picking you up."

"Huh?"

"I mean, it wouldn't be very gentlemanly of me if I didn't pick my date up for her own birthday party, right?"

"R-right... So, I'll just give you my number then…"

"Here you go," he said smiling while he handed me his cellphone. I typed in my number and saved it.

_See! It wasn't so hard! _

Shut up.

_Aw, come on._

Shut up.

_It wasn't THAT bad, Bells!_

You're just lucky you're not some physical being that can be physically hurt.

_So stingy…_

I am going to kill you!!!

"So, I'll pick you up at 6:30?"

"Y-yeah, sure. Perfect." I said, a little flustered. I really need to see a therapist or something.

Edward POV

"Perfect." She said a little out of breath.

I only laughed in response.

_You have no idea._

* * *

**R&R! :)**

**-MW-**


	5. Chapter Four

**Hello! :)**

**Chapter 4.**

**I have an obsession with cars.  
**

**Enjoy! :)**

**-MW-**

* * *

Chapter 4

"Fences – Paramore"

"Can I Have This Dance – Zac Efron & Vanessa Hudgens"

"All of Your Love – Hellogoodbye"

Bella POV

_-FLASHBACK-_

_It was two months after Charlie's funeral and I had just gotten back from another one of my hundred thousand dollar shopping sprees. Okay, so I haven't been doing so good since then. I didn't know what else to do and so far, I've been doing a good job of distracting myself. _

_I know. This is so typical. Girl loses someone in her life. Girl cries like there's no tomorrow. Girl finally stops crying because she had no more tears to cry. Girl wants to forget pain. Girl does some really stupid things to forget the pain._

_I opened the door to my manor – yes, everything's mine now – and put my keys on the table next to the entrance. I walk up the spiral staircase to my room and shut the door loudly. That was usually my way of telling all the help in the house that I was home and they had to be prepared to, basically, pamper me after my "long days". But I wasn't in the mood for that today. _

_I quickly changed from my Jimmy Choos into my knee-length boots, slid on my leather jacket, grabbed my phone and went out the door. I was walking down the hallway when I ran into one of my maids, Emma. _

"_Miss Bella, will you be sleeping here tonight?"_

_-END FLASHBACK-_

I reached for the brush sitting in front of me and began to run it through my hair, reminiscing about what happened after Charlie's funeral. Alice got fed up after a few more weeks of me and my phase and confronted me about it by locking me in an office with my shrink.

I'm not proud of who I was back then. I did a lot of stupid stuff. Mainly, I just wasted a big chunk of what instantly became my money after my dad died. I know, it was more than stupid and I have no excuse for everything that happened, but I had to admit, it was the perfect distraction. Although now, I do wonder what I'm going to do with everything I purchased back then…

Someone knocked on my door and I answered with a "Come in!" before the person poked his head from behind the door.

"Miss Bella? Will you be taking any of your cars tonight?"

"No, Emma, thank you."

Yeah. I went a little crazy with the credit cards back then. I'd almost always be sleeping in a five-star hotel 3 nights in a row before I realized I had run out of clothes to change into. But then that gave me an excuse to go on another shopping spree. And when I got bored, I'd drive around in the limo a couple of times. But then I got bored with that and told myself how slow it moved especially considering how long the thing was, so I went shopping for sports cars instead.

_-FLASHBACK-_

"_No, Emma." I answered her. Then I ran down the staircase, grabbed my keys and went out the door. I went to the building that was right beside the house and pressed on a button on its wall. The door buzzed open and I walked in, already knowing what I was going to use on the road today._

_I stopped next to my black Aston Martin Vanquish V12 and ran my hands gently over it. This was my baby whenever I didn't want to be seen at night._

_1875 kg of aluminum and from 0 to 62 mph in just 4.8 seconds...I sighed, this thing runs like a dream. I got in and revved the engine and made my way to my destination._

_I stopped outside the dealership and locked my car then made my way inside the building. _

_I looked around the place, already singling out the ones I liked when a man in a suit approached me._

"_Good afternoon, Miss! Welcome to the Porsche Dealership! How may I be of service to you today?"_

_I already knew what I wanted and the sooner I got it, the better. This distraction thing didn't always last very long._

"_I want that 911 Turbo." I said nodding my head in the direction of the car._

"_Yes, of course! Please follow me so we can start the paperwork."_

_We walked to a desk that wasn't far away from the entrance and he gestured for me to sit down but I declined, opting to stand instead._

"_So," he started "if you just fill this out and write down the address to where we're to deliver it, you will receive it in about 4 months – "_

"_I want two of each in all four standard colors, with the wheels Carrara White on the yellow ones. I want Sport Seats, black full leather interior, aluminum footrest, floormats in interior color, carbon multi-function steering wheel, and a telephone module for PCM." I said, looking bored._

_The man was struggling to write all the specifications I wanted with his fountain pen and even poked his hand a lot of times, making it bleed because he was shaking._

"_Y-y-yes, we will h-have those for you in four –"_

_I slammed my checkbook on his table and he jumped at the sound. I slid it towards him, at the same time leaning forward. _

"_Listen," I paused to look at his nametag "Mark," I smirked. I was really having fun with this._

"_If you can get those to the address I gave you by tomorrow," his lower lip was quivering now, and my smirk grew even more pronounced._

"_I'll throw in an extra million dollars. How does that sound?" I asked, looking at him from under my eyelashes. _

_He immediately straightened up and cleared his throat, fixing his tie."That will be no problem at all. We will have your 911 Turbos in perfect condition by tomorrow, Miss…"_

"_Swan. Isabella Swan."_

"_Miss Isabella Swan." He said in a suggestive tone._

_I made a gagging face on the inside and immediately wrote down the amount on one of the checks I tore out from my checkbook._

"_Thanks, Mark." I said the quickly turned to leave._

_-END FLASHBACK-_

I got up and made my way to my closet, bringing out the black garment bag and taking out the dress inside it. It was the dress that I bought for my party tonight. Alice and I took forever walking around the mall but finally, we found something worthy enough: a peach strapless number with a bow detail at the back. It was simple enough.

I laid it on my bed before returning to my vanity to finish fixing myself up, then I checked my clock to make sure I still had enough time before Edward came to pick me up. My phone rang and I went to my bedside table to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Bella! Are you on your way?" Alice asked.

"No, but I'm almost done and my date's not – " _Shit! _Shit! Shit! Shit!

"Date??" this time I heard two voices come through the phone.

"Is that Rose?"

"Hey, Bella!" her voice rang.

"BELLA! Who's your date??" Alice persisted.

I felt my face cringe and I knew that I had to get this over with sooner or later.

"Um… It's… Edward…" I said his name in a whisper. Alice was my best friend but I really had no idea to how she'd react to me bringing her brother as my date tonight.

"What? Sorry? I didn't hear you!" she shouted over the phone. I started to hear loud music and Rosalie yelling to someone.

I sighed in frustration and just spat it out, "IT'S-ED-WARD!!!" I yelled, making sure to say every syllable so she understood me.

All I could hear from the other line was the loud music and the bass getting turned up even higher, when Alice suddenly spoke.

"OH MY GOD! REALLY? THAT'S GREAT!" She yelled back.

"YOU'RE NOT MAD?"I asked her.

"NO! OF COURSE NOT, BELLA! I'VE BEEN THINKING ABOUT SETTING YOU TWO UP ANYWAY! BUT NOW YOU GUYS GOT TOGETHER ON YOUR OWN! THIS IS SO GREAT!"

I sighed in relief. At least this didn't bother her. It would have been a really big problem if she had any reservations about it at all.

"THANKS, ALICE! I HONESTLY THOUGHT YOU'D BITEMY HEAD OFF OR SOMETHING!"

"COME ON, BELLA! BE SERIOUS!" I could practically feel her rolling her eyes at me.

"AL! JASPER'S HERE!" Rose spoke up from the background.

"ALRIGHT! BELLA, I GOTTA GO NOW! SEE YOU SOON!"

"BYE! LOVE YOU, AL!" then I set the phone back on the base.

At least that was over. I made my way to my bed and picked up my dress, taking it off the hanger and slipping it on. After I zipped myself up, I heard the doorbell ring throughout the house. Then I heard a knock on my door and went to answer it.

"Miss Bella, your date is here."

"Tell him I'll be down in a minute."

I closed the door and leaned my back against it. My heart started to beat really fast and I felt heat from my chest start to rise up to my cheeks. I put my hand over my heart to try and slow it down but all it did was speed up even faster.

I walked to my vanity again and checked myself, making sure nothing was missing and I that I looked okay before I went out my door and made my way down the stairs.

Edward POV

"I'm here for Bella." I said to the girl who opened the door.

"Ah yes, please come in. I will go call her."

"Thank you."

I looked around the house and noticed how different it looked from the last time I was here. Everything about it changed – the furniture was more modern, the colors of the walls were more neutral now and there were a few pictures sitting on the shelves a few feet away from me.

There was a shiny, black grand piano that stood next to a spiral staircase. I walked into the next room – the living room, it looked like – it had a high ceiling, much like the rest of the house, and a big window that replaced the wall, showing off a view of the outside. A plasma TV was on my right and a big black couch in front of it. On the other end was another doorway that led to the dining room.

_Bella sure doesn't look like she lives here at all_, I thought. There was barely any real personal item that showed it, except for the pictures.

"Miss Bella will be down in a minute." I turned to face the girl from earlier and smiled at her.

"Thank you very much."

"Would you like anything to drink?"

"No thank you, I'm okay."

"Alright. Miss Bella said to make yourself at home, Mister…"

"Edward." I offered.

"Edward," she repeated "You may sit on the couch if you'd like."

"Thank you."

As I was sitting on the couch, my thoughts went back to my plan earlier this afternoon. All I had to do was show Carlisle that I can have a life outside the office – in this case: make Bella my girlfriend – and then, everything will be okay again. That's all there is to it. Then everything that I've been working for my whole life, everything I've dedicated my life to, would fall into place.

Nothing would be missing anymore.

I smiled to myself. Yes, I'd have everything I've always wanted and more. I laughed, a real throw-my-head-back kind of laugh, the kind that I haven't done in a very long time. Everything was starting to make sense to me now. I looked outside the huge window, up at the sky. Even in darkness, the scenery before me exuded such breathtaking beauty.

"Edward?" I heard Bella's voice call from the other room.

I stood up and made my way to her, but then the sight of her made me stop in my tracks and forget how to breathe.

All I can remember of that moment is everything suddenly moving in slow motion, my heart was beating at a pace that sounded like it would fail at any moment, her hand carefully gliding along the railing started the butterflies fluttering around in the pit of my stomach, it was like this feeling of pleasure was so great that I was afraid if it continued, the longing for it to cease would disappear.

She stops in front of me, biting her lower lip and blushing. _Lovely_, I thought. I took her hand and brought it up to my lips, caressing it, which made her blush even more.

"You look stunning," I complimented her. And if it was possible, she blushed even more.

"Thank you…"

I smiled and gestured towards the door so we could make our way to my car.

When we were outside, I could help but take another glance at her from beside me. Her cheeks were back to a normal color now and she had a small smile on her face with excitement in her eyes.

"Ready for your party?" I asked her.

"I think so," she answered, smiling up at me.

Breathtakingly beautiful, indeed.

* * *

Bella POV

**-In the party-**

Alice couldn't have done a better job. Even though I was scared out of my wits about this party, she managed to do everything to my liking. Leave it to Alice to make everything in your life picture perfect.

"So, do you like it?" she asked, seeing the smile on my face.

"Alice, I love it! So far, everything's been amazing! Thank you so much!"

"You're very welcome! So! Where's your _date_?" she said wiggling her eyebrows.

I laughed at her playfulness, "He said he was going to find Emmett and Jasper."

She pretended to look shocked, "He left you here all _alone_?"

I raised my eyebrow at her, "Alice. He's been with me all night!"

"And you didn't like that?"

"I did, but, there's gotta be some boundaries, right?"

"Bella, there are no boundaries when it comes to love." She said with a serious tone in her voice.

I snorted at that. _Love._ He was just my date for tonight, nothing more. Anything that went beyond that would only compromise the work.

"You never do know, Bella," Alice said. Then she ran off into the crowd saying something about the music not being loud enough.

"Excuse me," I called to a waiter.

"Yes, ma'am? Oh! You're the birthday celebrant! Happy birthday!"

"Thank you," I smiled at him.

"So, what's a pretty girl like you doing way over here all by yourself?" he asked, raising his eyebrow. I groaned inwardly. I really wasn't in the mood for this.

I laughed lightly, trying to act completely obtuse to his efforts at trying to pick me up.

"Well, this pretty little girl would really like a beer," I said, trying to sound sarcastic.

"Sure thing, I'll be right back with that," he winked and went over to the bar.

I rolled my eyes and threw my hands up in the air. I let them fall to my sides and took in a deep breath, trying to drown out the loud music.

I thought about what Alice had said earlier about possibly falling in love with Edward, and even now, the thought seemed completely preposterous to me. What if it didn't work out? Our monthly meetings would become very awkward. Sure, he's good-looking, and smart, and totally charming… _He sounds too good to be true_, I sighed. It's not possible that guys like that still existed in this world.

_What if it is?_

I groaned out loud, "Not you again!" I said to no one.

"I'm sorry, did you want me to leave?" I quickly turned my head to see Edward standing behind the booth I was sitting in, smirking at me.

I blushed, realizing that he caught me talking to myself, even if he didn't know it.

"No, no, no… I'm sorry, I was just – "

"Here's your drink, pretty girl!" the waiter came back with my drink in his hand. He took one look at Edward, who made his way to the seat across from me and his expression immediately turned into a scowl.

"Is there anything else?" the waiter asked dryly and I couldn't hold my laughter in for long.

"No… Thanks…" I said, trying not to let any giggles escape from me. The waiter left and I was once again left alone with Edward.

"I'm sorry for leaving you like that. It was very rude of me." He said with a smile at the end.

"It's okay, I was with Alice anyway and we had to catch up on some things."

"Well, you have my undivided attention now." I finished my drink – which I probably shouldn't have done in one sip because I was such a cheap drunk – my head started throbbing and I felt intense heat all over my face. Next thing I knew, I grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the dance floor where a song I knew I liked, but couldn't think of the title because of my current state, was playing.

We were dancing – well, I was jumping up and down and head banging – when someone bumped me from behind, slamming into me so hard that I feel face first into Edward's chest.

_Well, that was embarrassing._

I held onto his arms to prevent myself from completely hitting the ground and looked up at him,

"I am so sorry…! Wow, these lights are BRIGHT!" I said, ducking my head into his chest. I felt his body shake and I peeked up at his face and saw him laughing. _Oh that's just wonderful,_ I thought as my face turned even redder.

It must have been the alcohol working itself into my brain because the next thing I knew, he pulled my arms over his shoulders and wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me to him, closing the gap between us. He leaned in and whispered in my ear,

"Bella," he breathed. Everything in my head started swirling around and I leaned into him more, breathing him in. It was like he had his own scent, it was mostly sweet, though not like any cologne that I've ever smelled before – not that he actually needed any. I can't take this dazzling thing anymore…

"Do you want to go home?" he whispered.

My grip tightened from behind his head and I pulled my head back to look him in the eyes.

"You really should stop doing that to me, you know…" his eyebrows furrowed at this.

"Do what?"

"Dazzle me…" I said breathlessly. Before he could say any more, we were interrupted by Alice dancing her way in between us.

"BELLA!" she yelled over the music, "IT'S TIME FOR YOUR CAKE!"

-

"Happy birthday, happy birthday... HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOOOOOUUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Emmett sang loudly in my ears.

We were all gathered around my huge 3-layer birthday cake and Alice took the liberty of going overboard with this.

"At least it's edible, so it'll be gone before you know it!" she told me earlier.

A microphone was put in my hands and I took that as my cue to make my acknowledgments.

"Thank you so much, everybody! You know, all of this" I gestured to the party "wouldn't have all been possible if it wasn't for my best friend, Alice Cullen!

"Again, I'd like to thank each and every one of you for all of the lovely presents and for being here with me tonight to celebrate my 24th birthday! So, enjoy the rest of the party and have some cake!" then there was applause.

As the night went on, the people started to disappear but not before coming up to me and greeting me 'happy birthday' again.

"Thank you," I smiled at them "and thanks again for coming!"

As soon as I was sure there was no one else, I sat down on a low stool and put my head in my hands. I was so ready to retire from this night.

"Ready to go?" a wonderful voice asked me. My head shot up and I saw that it was Edward.

"You have no idea," I said getting up. He held out his hand and I took it, smiling at him.

We walked to his car and he opened the passenger door for me the second time that night.

He started the engine to his silver Volvo and sped in the direction of my house.

* * *

"Well… That was fun." I started, walking to my door.

"Yeah, Alice sure knows how to throw a party." He laughed. Then he suddenly stopped when he saw the building with the massive garage door next to my house.

"What is _that_?" he asked with his mouth slightly agape. Taking into consideration how he was driving on the way here, I'd bet that he'd love to take a look.

"Do you wanna see?" I asked crossing my arms with a smirk on my face.

"Sure."

* * *

**R&R! :)**

**-MW-**


	6. Chapter Five

**That last chapter was LONG. _**

**Anyway, enjoy! :)**

**P.S. I've got an obsession with cars, so... I just had to put in the Cullen cars :D  
**

**-MW-**

* * *

Chapter 5

"My Heart – Paramore"

"Emergency – Paramore"

Edward POV

"No. Freakin'. Way."

"You like it?"

I was pretty sure that my mouth was hanging open in shock. I stared at all the sports cars that were neatly lined up in a lot of rows that took up most of the space on the inside of Bella's "garage", and I immediately started naming the only ones I could see the moment.

_Mercedes S600 Guard. _

_2008 Jaguar S-Type._

_Ferrari F430._

_Mercedes S55 AMG._

_Aston Martin V12 Vanquish._

_BMW M3._

_Porsche 911 Turbo._

But it wasn't exactly the cars themselves that had made my eyes go wide and my mouth feel dry from being open for so long. It was _how many_ she had of them.

"Did you know that this can go from 0 to 62 in 3.7 seconds?" I asked her, examining the Porsche more closely.

She giggled and said, "And 0 to 99 in 7.8."

I looked at her incredulously. This girl knew something about cars? The only other girls that really knew about cars – in my opinion – were Alice and Rosalie. So it was a real surprise to me when she knew the performance of the 911. I smiled, this was going to be fun after all.

"Why are there so many?" I asked her.

She immediately began to look nervous, like she was this little girl who broke her mother's antique vase or something. She took a few steps towards the Vanquish and bit her lower lip.

"After my father died," she put her hand on the hood, "You could say I sort of went through a phase."

"So… You don't really like cars, then?" For some reason, this sort of bothered me. It would have been nice to date a girl that actually knew something about cars and not just their brand names. Maybe the 911 trivia earlier was just something she picked up from when she bought it.

"Oh, no, I love cars." She said smiling, "and it did help me when I was buying all these. They were wonderful distractions." She said dreamily.

We continued talking more about cars and our lives but never really danced around the topic of her father. This girl sure took extreme measures when it came to her "distractions". She told me how she'd come home from her expensive shopping sprees, I tried to get her to tell me just exactly how expensive they were, but she said I'd probably get a heart attack if she told me.

The night had come to an end, and as we were saying our goodbyes, I took one more look at Bella.

From where I was standing, the moonlight created a soft halo around her head. Her eyes were looking straight ahead, but I could see something new in them. They looked so full of life, and that must have been why a smile graced her delicate features – it wasn't a full smile, it only reached her eyes just a little bit, but it made her look like she was keeping a secret or like she just heard the most pleasant thing in the entire world. To top it all off, the light touched every inch of her skin, making her look like she was glowing – she looked almost ethereal.

I shook my head and smiled to myself.

Bella Swan sure could make a guy go crazy sometimes.

* * *

**(.The next day.)**

Alice POV

"I just don't get it," I said, pacing back and forth.

"Maybe you should sit down, Ali," Jasper said.

There was something I couldn't understand at all.

I know Bella, like the back of my hand. She's kind, sweet, smart, and very much like a sister to me. She's never intentionally done anything life-threatening or stupid, she knows better than that. Her instincts are sharp too, so…

"Why did she bring Edward as her date last night?" I thought out loud, ignoring Jasper's earlier statement.

"It _was _her party,"

"No, no, no, that's not what I meant, Jazz. I meant, _why did she bring Edward to her party last night_?"

He sighed in frustration. I knew that this was getting the best of him, but I just really could not put my finger on it.

"Maybe he was the one who asked her," he said standing up and walking into the kitchen.

He was the one who asked her?

_Edward_ asked Bella?

_Edward_ made the first move?

_Edward _and Bella…

I'll admit: that did have a nice ring to it. But that wasn't enough to distract me from what I was focused on earlier.

"Jazz, do you think Edward's strange?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, has there been anything out of the ordinary lately?"

He thought about it for a moment and then started to shake his head.

"Hmm… Not really. Maybe he's just acting weird because of Carlisle again."

"My dad?" I asked in mild surprise, "What does my dad have to do with this?"

"Well, he's always complaining about how hard work would be for him, especially because of Carlisle, according to him."

"Did he say why?"

"Hmm… No, not really." Then his phone rang and he immediately answered it.

"Yeah, I'll be there in 10." He said then ended the call, "I'm sorry, Ali, I have to go. Something came up in the company."

"Alright, take care, okay?"

"I will." He kissed the top of my head and went out the door.

I sighed and slumped onto the couch, landing on a few throw pillows on it.

"Carlisle…" I said to myself.

This mystery obviously wasn't going to solve itself, so I got up and decided to pay a visit to my dad.

* * *

I knocked on the door to his study and waited for him to speak. I heard a faint "come in" from the other side of the door and I opened it, walking straight to my usual spot which was the seat in front of his desk, where he usually sat.

"Alice, how are you?" he asked, not really looking up from his paper work.

"I'm fine, daddy."

Long pause.

He looked up from his desk and smiled at me.

"Is there something you need?"

I took a moment to answer, making sure I phrased and worded this properly.

"Edward accompanied Bella to her party last night," I started. He suddenly looked happier and sat up,

"Really?"

"Yes."

"How did it go?"

"They had a wonderful time."

"Did Edward say anything?"

This made me grow suspicious. "No," I said slowly, "I haven't had the chance to speak with him yet."

"Did he look happy?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, uh…" I am _so_ on the right track. "Did he have a good time?"

"I suppose so."

I started to grow tired of this so I drummed my fingers on his desk, knowing that it would irk him, and hopefully, get him to tell me what was really going on.

"Alice, there's somethi– "

"You know why Edward was with Bella." I interrupted. I tried to keep my face as stoic as possible.

He sighed, and brought his hands together, putting them under his chin.

"I'm giving the company to Edward."

"I know that, dad," This can't be just it. I studied his face more and pressed on, "Is there something more you'd like to say?"

He sighed again and let his hands fall on his desk.

"I told him I'd sign it over to him… under a condition."

I did not like where this was going.

"What condition?" I said slowly.

"You know how after Tanya died… It was like he died along with her," he ran his hands through his hair and exhaled, "I couldn't bear seeing him like that. I wanted him to start living again." He paused, looking at me. I nodded once, signaling him to continue.

"I was going to give him the company anyway, Emmett didn't want it, and you don't either. So, two years ago…" and he began to tell me what happened back then.

"…and now, he must finally be moving on, with Bella." He finished.

I swore my left eyebrow was aching from being raised for so long.

Edward never saw the world as rainbows and sunshine. Apart from us, his family, he was never really nice to anybody. He didn't like it when people invaded his privacy and it's always been clear that his goal was to acquire Cullen Corp. as his own. He was always the suck-up. I even remember him telling dad once that he'd do anything to be able to work in the company. He was, essentially, a selfish creature.

"He's using Bella?" I said incredulously. I didn't give Carlisle time to answer as I stood up and walked briskly out of the room.

I was going to have a talk with my brother.

* * *

I stormed into the building, making my way towards the elevators. I furiously pressed the button and tapped my foot impatiently against the floor, waiting for it to reach the floor of Cullen Corp.

Before the doors could completely open, I was already out, making my way to Edward's office.

"I-I'm sorry! Mr. Cullen is not availa –," Lauren, his assistant, tried to stop me but I just pushed past her and walked into Edward's office, where I found him, leaning back on his chair with his hands behind his head, staring at something across the room and laughing out loud.

I leaned over and slammed a thick book on his desk.

"We need to talk."

He immediately stood up, shocked from my abrupt appearance.

"Alice! What are you doing here?"

"I know what you're doing with Bella," I said, cutting to the chase, "and I'm warning you, Edward; don't even think about it."

"Think about what?" he said, looking dumbfounded.

"Using Bella! To get the company! That's low, Edward, even for you." His face turned into that calm mask I recognized. He always did that when he had to lie.

"Alice, I'm not using her." I snorted.

"Right! And Carlisle taking your trust fund hostage has absolutely nothing to do with it!" I said sarcastically. His face was still calm.

"Stay away from her, Edward. I'm not having this." I said walking away.

"What if I'm not just using her? What if I actually like her?" I stopped in my tracks. I spun on my heel and made my way to my earlier position then I just stared him in the eyes. I couldn't tell whether or not he was being serious because I couldn't see any emotion in his eyes – nothing at all.

"Is that so hard to believe?" he asked.

"Is it – Is it so hard to believe that I might like the way she blushes? That I like the color of it? Is it so hard to believe that merely being around her leaves me at a loss for words? That when she says something funny, I laugh? And, I'm talking about a real laugh here. The kind that makes people around you stare at you and make them think that you're crazy. Is it so hard to believe that I can't stand the way she makes me feel, but whenever I'm not with her, I just want to be with her? Is it really that hard to believe?"

I could feel my eyes begin to soften, and I think I started to believe him. I shifted my weight and sighed.

"Edward, I just don't want to see her get hurt. She's had it pretty rough the past couple of years. And I'm not just talking about her dad." I explained.

"I wouldn't do that to her, Al." he said.

I sighed. Bella really did not need another guy coming into her life and lying to her again. It's only happened once before, but considering everything that happened during that time with Jacob, her ex-boyfriend, it was actually more than enough to make any woman almost swear off men for the rest of their lives.

I can still remember her throwing out all of his stuff from her house. It wasn't a pretty sight.

Those poor Gucci shirts…

"She makes me feel like I did when I was with Tanya… But… In a different way…" he said quietly.

I looked at him with my eyes wide.

Now _this_ was a real surprise. Not only was Edward acknowledging how he felt about Bella, but he was describing to me how he felt as well, even bringing Tanya into the picture.

I sighed again and folded my arms across my chest.

There really was nothing else to say, was there?

"You have my blessing." I said in monotone.

He finally broke out of his mask and smiled.

"Thank you, Alice. And I'd really appreciate it if you didn't say anything to Bella."

I rolled my eyes.

"Do you really think my mouth is that big?" I said sarcastically. I forced a smile and started walking towards the door.

"Bye, Edward. I'll see you at home."

"Bye, Alice."

I couldn't help but feel that something wasn't right.

Edward POV

I sighed in relief and sat down, rubbing my temples. Alice could be really sneaky sometimes.

"Thanks a lot, Emmett." I said into the earpiece.

"No problem, man. You're just lucky that one of Rose's romance novels was lying around the place."

"Yeah. Listen, I gotta go. I'll see you, man."

"Bye!"

I highly doubt that Alice believed my little monologue – I could see some of the doubt she had in her eyes.

I took the earpiece off and recalled what had happened earlier.

"_Is_ it really so hard to believe?" I said to myself quietly.

* * *

**I liked writing this chapter, for some reason... XD**

**R&R, please! :)**

**-MW-**


	7. Chapter Six

**I keep forgetting to put a disclaimer.**

**I don't own Twilight.**

**Enjoy! :)**

**-MW-**

* * *

Chapter 6

"Lovebug – Jonas Brothers"

Edward POV

"So, what was up with Alice earlier?"

Emmett came in the office a few hours after Alice left and had already begun to interrogate me.

I ran my right hand through my hair and let out a sigh,

"She knows."

He nodded in understanding. Emmett was the only one I told about Carlisle's condition because, as much as he loves Rosalie, his brother always came first to him, and Jasper would easily give in to Alice's pleads and sad eyes. It was too risky to let him in on this, so I gave as little detail as possible.

"Edward, are you sure you want to do this? I mean, she's not just _some_ girl." I knew what he meant, and smiled,

"I know that, Em, don't worry. I've got it all planned out. Besides…" I trailed off. I stood up and walked towards my window, I noticed a sea of yellow below me as people were getting into cabs and on their way home.

"She's not that bad. She's actually nice to look at – more than nice, I think. Her eyes are these amazing kind of brown and when I look into them, it's like I'm put in a trance and what I see in them…" I laughed a little and turned to Emmett.

He was grinning wildly at me now and had one of his eyebrows raised at me.

"What do you see in them?" he asked, still grinning.

I thought about it for a moment and said,

"I see… I see kindness. I see determination, ambition… Passion! And she's smart! I don't see why she's still single, Em."

If it was even possible, his grin seemed like it got wider and it looked like his face was going to break any minute now.

"Nope, you don't see it at all." He said.

"What?" I asked him, confused by his mood.

"You like her." He simply said.

"Well, of course I like her. I just told you, Em, she's a great girl."

"No, no, I know that, but…"

I waited impatiently for him to finish.

"But what?!"

His booming laugh filled the room and it scared me a little.

"_But_, Edward, _you like her_."

I stared at him, not saying anything, for a long time. Now it was my turn to fill the room with my laughter.

It slowly died down when I realized he was being serious.

"Oh… You're serious?" he nodded.

"What on earth makes you think that I _like_ Bella Swan?"

"Eddie-boy," I growled, but he ignored it and went on, "all that stuff you were telling Alice yesterday, that wasn't in Rosalie's romance novel."

"What are you talking about? Of course it was! You were reading from the book!" I said, raising my voice a little.

"I was just reading the summary at the back. All of that stuff you said… came from you, Edward."

"How is that possible?" I whispered.

He sighed in frustration and stood up, walking towards me.

"You. _Like._ Her. Heck, you might even end up falling in love with this girl!" I raised my eyebrows at him, then my thoughts were suddenly all over the place… and they stopped on the same person.

I couldn't like this girl! There was no way I would allow myself to _like_ this girl! There is just no way! I could never… Well, maybe – NO, I shook my head. This is not happening. This will not happen. But it's already happened… Well then, make it stop! GUHHHH!

Make it stop!

My phone suddenly rang and I when I checked the caller ID, my breathing stopped. Emmett grabbed my phone and looked at it as well, smirking. He flipped open the phone and pressed it to my ear. It took a full five seconds before I could actually say anything.

"Hello?"

"Edward!"

"Bella…"

Crap. Crap. Crap. _Crap._ Now this girl was going to think I was incapable of forming coherent sentences.

"Are you busy?" she sounded nervous.

"N… No, not at all." Just talking about how I think I like you with my brother, that's all.

"Well good, because I wanted to know when you're free." Emmett moved his head close to my phone so he could hear what she was saying.

"Free?"

"Yes," Was she asking me out? Well, this is unusual "for Seattle."

I could see Emmett mouthing the words, "A date in Seattle???" I swatted him away with my hand.

"Ah, yes, the business trip." I said, making sure to emphasize the word "business" so Emmett could get his mind out of the gutter.

"How does next week sound?"

Now, I wasn't sure at all I wasn't falling in love with Bella Swan. The only other time I have ever been in love, as far as I could tell, was with Tanya. And even back then, I didn't know that I was falling for her. I was already in love with her when I realized I loved her.

"Next week sounds perfect."

"Alright, I'll have my assistant book us flights and email the details."

"Sure. Bye." Then I flipped it shut.

Emmett was still smirking at me.

"That was for a business trip, Emmett."

"Oh, I know. I do work here too, you know."

"Then why is that smirk still on your face?"

"Because you like her, and you don't even know it yet."

I didn't bother answering him anymore. I sat down at my desk and absent-mindedly looked through all the papers.

"Emmett, we've been on one date. And I wasn't even the one who asked for it!"

He snorted, "Haven't you ever heard of love at first sight?"

"Haven't you ever heard of how childish you were?"

"Psh. Rose tells me that all the time and she's still with me."

I seriously needed to chill out because my hands were all over the place but I couldn't put my mind to anything. It's like my body was moving all on its own while my mind was…

Don't even go there, Cullen.

Emmett say down in one of the chairs placed in front of my desk.

"But seriously, Edward," his tone made me look at him in mild surprise.

"Is it really so hard to believe that you could be having real feelings for her? That you truly care for her and you're not just using her?"

"I've been asking myself that too, Em." I said quietly.

He was still looking at me, expecting me to continue.

"I don't think I'd be enough for her… Shattered goods and all…"

"Shouldn't you let her decide that?"

My mind immediately went back to that day in the cemetery before I left. She was really broken about her dad, and it showed. She wasn't afraid to show it. I don't think it mattered to her who was watching then, because to her – it looked like – it was just her and her dad together, spending some time together.

What I wouldn't give to have someone I love look at me like that.

"You like her."

I looked at Emmett and smiled at him. He smiled back.

I had some clarity now. I knew I felt something for Bella Swan, but I wasn't completely sure yet if I _liked_ her.

That was something I had to know the answer to.

* * *

**ONE WEEK LATER.**

Bella POV

I skidded to a stop in front of the airplane hangar, whose doors were halfway open. Today, Edward and I were going to Seattle to fix the problem with the bank accounts, and we were taking the private jet.

I would have preferred to just sit in economy on a normal plane, but the crisis wasn't getting any better and we had to be there as soon as possible.

I got out of the Vanquish and briskly walked towards the hangar.

"Take care of her for me, James!" I yelled over my shoulder to James, my chauffer. He offered to drive me here, but I insisted on driving on my own but that he could sit in the passenger seat and drive my car home after.

"Yes, Miss Swan!"

When I walked into the hangar, everyone was running around, preparing for the flight.

"Bella!"

I turned to look at the owner of the voice and I saw him.

Even in the ugly fluorescent lighting of this place, he still managed to look so wonderful. His hair still cannot be tamed, and the smile he was wearing reached all the way up to his eyes, making him look so innocent. My eyes trailed off to the rest of his body… Tall – but not gigantic or anything – and muscular – but not bulky – and every time he walked, it always looked like he was gliding in air.

I giggled. I bet he'd still look amazing even after a long flight.

"What's so funny?"

I hadn't noticed him standing in front of me by then.

"Nothing, just… Nothing." I said smiling up at him.

"Then, shall we?"

"Of course."

As we were preparing for lift-off, I snuck another look at him, and I couldn't help but think that he'd still look just as amazing as he does now when he gets off the plane after several hours as compared to most people.

* * *

"Where's Greene?!"

The moment we got off the plane, my phone rang and I've been trying to handle the situation as much as possible. Edward was calling his people too, trying to see if they could do anything. Since then, my phone hasn't left my ear.

"He better be there when I arrive!" I yelled into the phone and snapped it shut.

"Yes, please, hurry." Edward sighed and looked at me.

We were on our way to the company here in Seattle to fix the problem, but so far, the employees have been putting the blame on each other, all of them not wanting to get fired from their jobs. I wouldn't do that to them, I just really needed to talk to someone who would be of use to me right now.

"Nothing?" I asked him.

"Sorry… They said that they didn't know anything about the weekly withdrawals from the account."

"Weekly withdrawals?" he nodded.

"Didn't you know?" I sighed.

"No one's telling me anything. They think I'm going to fire them for telling the truth."

"I don't think they mean that."

"Well, Greene isn't talking to me! Nobody knows where he is!" I said, throwing my hands in the air.

"He's there. He wouldn't run from a powerful multi-millionaire who had connections all over the world." He said, winking at me.

I blushed at that and looked out the window, silently praying that I could save this company from shutting down.

* * *

"Greene!" I yelled, slamming my hand on his desk.

Wesley Greene was a 27-year-old WU graduate that studied Business Management. And he was my dad's nephew. He had some of the features from his mom, Charlie's sister, that made us look similar, but other than that, he could have passed as a carbon-copy of his father.

"What the hell is going on here?!"

"Bella, I think this would work better if you calmed down." Edward whispered into my ear.

I shivered slightly from the contact and drew in a deep breath before I spoke to my cousin again.

"What happened?" I said, calmer this time.

"Well, hello to you too, cousin." He said as he raised his eyebrow at me.

"Hello." I said through gritted teeth.

"Nice to meet you," he turned his attention to Edward, sticking out his hand, "Wesley Greene, head of Swan Corp., Seattle."

"Edward Cullen." He said, shaking Greene's hand.

"Ahh! Cullen! How is it over there?"

"Oh, you know, we're up and running, keeping our bank accounts in check."

"Yes, Greene," I interrupted, "What _did_ happen to our bank accounts?"

He looked at me more seriously this time.

"Baron Davis, that's what."

"Who?" Edward and I asked at the same time.

"We were having some trouble in Accounting because of what little people we have over there, so I hired someone. But he turned out to be a con."

"Didn't you screen him?" I asked.

"I did everything, dear cousin, and more since no one ever heard of him. But I figured he must keep a low profile at all times, so I didn't mind."

"Did you call the police?" Edward asked.

"The first thing we did." Greene answered, "We caught him, but without the cash. Turns out, Davis was working for a drug lord that moved to the Middle East so all the cash was converted. But somehow, the police got him to work on the good side so they could catch the guy."

"So, what about the company?" Edward asked again, "What's going to happen?"

Greene didn't say anything and looked at me hesitantly, as if waiting for my permission for him to answer. He took my silence as a yes.

"It shuts down." He whispered.

"But that's going to pull down your profit from the other branches." Edward said.

Greene sighed and stood up, walking around his desk.

"There has to be some other way to get the money, right?"

It was deadly silent for a long time, with the only sounds being phones ringing outside and the employees scurrying about, meeting deadlines.

I didn't want my father's legacy to be tainted. Even if we had many other branches in the whole world, I couldn't even bear to think that a part of it was going to disappear. That, to me, meant that a part of my father was going to disappear along with it. I wasn't about to let that happen.

"How much was lost?" I suddenly asked, making both of them look at me – Edward with a suspicious look in his eyes.

"The company can compensate for a good fraction of it, Bella." Greene said.

"So, what about the other half?" I asked, slightly annoyed. Was he seriously going to let this company run without a good amount of money?

Greene sighed, "One million dollars."

I nodded. It didn't take me long to decide what I had to do in order to save this company.

"I got it covered."

"And how do you propose that?" Edward asked, facing me fully now with his arms across his chest.

"You let me worry about that." I said to him, then turned to Greene.

"Call the bank. Tell them to get the money from my personal account in one week."

Greene simply nodded and left his office to tell the other employees. I could hear faint cheers and applauses from behind the door.

"What are you planning, Bella?" Edward said.

Once mymind was made up, I was determined to not have anything change it. This is my father's legacy, the last thing left of him in this world. And to me, that was what mattered most. Anything that I wanted came in second.

Edward POV

I couldn't understand what Bella was planning. _Did _she even have a plan or was she bluffing? She seemed calm on the outside, but I wondered to myself if I turned and walked out of this office, would she still be calm?

In the back of my mind, I asked myself if she was even allowed to do this. I mean, this branch belonged to her cousin. Although, she _is_ Charlie's daughter…

And then it hit me. Like a foul ball right between my eyes.

It _was_ her decision. Just because Charlie isn't here anymore doesn't make her any less of an authority figure like Charlie was. And this company was everything to him, so she was involved in this just as much as Greene was. She was breaking through her boundaries.

And that's when I found my answer.

_Shouldn't you let her decide that?_

Yes, Emmett, I think I will.

* * *

**R&R! :)**

**-MW-**


	8. Chapter Seven

**There's a part here that I couldn't stop laughing at as I was writing it. XD**

**Enjoy! :D**

**-MW-**

* * *

Chapter 7

"Goodbye – Miley Cyrus"

"White Horse – Taylor Swift"

"Take A Bow – Rihanna"

"Breakeven – The Script"

"Over It – Katharine McPhee"

Bella POV

"_Do you love me?" His dark skin was still visible to me, even in the night._

"_Yes," I said breathlessly._

"_Will you give me another chance?"_

I woke up to someone shaking me, making me unable to finish my daydream.

"Bella!"

"Huh… Wha… Where am I?"

"We're a few blocks from Swan Corp., stuck in traffic."

He was looking at me in a funny way.

"What?" I asked him.

"You looked like you were in pain," I took in a deep breath, "Are you alright, Bella?"

I was staring off at something outside the window.

"Edward, do you ever think about love?"

It was a while before he answered me.

"What do you mean?"

"You know… _Love_." I simply said, hoping he would understand what I was trying to say.

"I suppose so… What brought this on?"

"Jake…" I whispered.

"I'm sorry?"

"It's nothing, I'm sorry for asking in the first place."

He pulled my hand so I could look at him, and his eyes did that smoldering thing again.

"Please, Bella. I'd like to help."

"Jake." I answered him.

He raised his eyebrow, "No… Edward." He said pointing a finger to himself.

"No, I meant… You asked me, what brought this on. Jake. Jacob Black." I waited for him for some kind of reaction, but all I saw was Edward waiting patiently for me to continue.

"We met about a year after my father's funeral…"

_-*-_

_He was working in the bank that day, and my assistant called in sick. So I decided to do some of the errands myself. I approached him for help, and then when I was about to leave, he asked me out._

"_Friday, say, at 7?" he brilliantly smiled._

"_Friday." I promised._

_-*-_

"We went on a lot more dates after that…"

_-*-_

_He took me everywhere – amusement parks, fancy restaurants, movies, operas – you name it, he's brought me there._

_I started getting worried after a while. We'd been going out so much I was worrying that he'd been spending so much on me._

"_Don't worry about it, Bells," he said, "I've got it under control."_

_So I trusted him, but something still didn't feel right to me._

_-*-_

"After that, he went on this business trip. He didn't give me much detail, just that he'd call when he got back." I took a deep breath and continued,

"I didn't know when that was so I visited the bank one day, hoping to get some answers. But then his colleague, Seth, told me that he hasn't been coming in for a while."

_-*-_

"_What?" I asked, incredulously._

"_Yeah, didn't he tell you? He got fired a while back. They gave me his job."_

_I couldn't believe it. I was in total shock._

_That night, while we were out on another one of our expensive dates, I decided to confront him._

"_Jake, how do you manage to pay for all of our dates?"_

"_What do you mean? I work at the bank, Bells." He said, smiling._

"_I went there this morning, and I met Seth." That did it. He suddenly became quiet and was just staring at me._

"_That's not right, Bells." He said, frowning._

"_What? Not visiting my boyfriend?" I raised my voice._

_He sighed and ran his hands over his face._

"_Bells, let me explain…" _

_-*-_

"What I should have done was left him there and just gone home."

"But?" Edward asked.

I sighed, "But I let him explain. He said that, yes, he'd been fired – that day I met him in the bank was his last, but he said also that he got a new job, hence the business trip to Seattle."

"So why didn't he just tell you that?" Edward asked again, this time I could feel something different in his voice. Anger?

"He said that he didn't want to bother me with it – "

"Bull." I had to laugh at this. I have never heard Edward curse at all, and this one time was priceless. But he wasn't laughing with me.

"So," he said slowly, "what happened then?"

"Then… All the problems started. We fought a lot, but he'd always keep calling be right back after and he left gifts for me in my office and at home. I thought it was very sweet at first, but then they got less and less, and eventually, they stopped coming.

"I thought that he was giving up on us already. I was pretty mortified at the time. But then I thought, what if he was finally coming to see me and apologize in person, right? That never happened. So, I went to his apartment, to see if I could still save our relationship."

_-*-_

_I rang the doorbell and waited for him to open the door, but he didn't come. So I kept ringing the doorbell, until I grew impatient so I just got the spare key and let myself in._

"_Jake?" I called out._

_There was no answer. _

_I looked around his apartment and it looked like no one was there. Then I found a bunch of newspapers on his table, all of them had red circles on them. He was still looking for a job, and from what I could tell, the search wasn't going too well._

_Then I heard muffled sounds and some giggling coming from his bedroom._

_I walked to it, opened the door…_

_-*-_

"And you can guess what happened next."I said quietly.

It was silent for a while between Edward and I. I didn't know if I should tell him the rest of the story, because that was the part I hated more than anything that happened between Jake and I.

If only I wasn't so weak at the time…

If only I told myself that I didn't need him in my life…

If only I told myself that I was better off without him…

If only I had realized at that time that he was a lying, cheating son of a –

"Are you alright?" Edward asked me.

I turned to him and this time, he looked like he was trying – with difficulty – to hold in something. His jaw was clenched so hard that I could see the tension in his neck and face, his eyes were narrowed and his lips were in a hard line.

He looked like he was about to get angry.

"Edward… You don't have to…"

But he cut me off by shaking his head at me.

He pinched the bridge of his nose and took deep breaths until he calmed down again, and I waited.

He sighed and turned to me.

And I sighed.

_-*-_

_He was begging for my forgiveness, and apologizing… A lot._

_He said that it was a mistake – he didn't know I'd be there and he knows what he did was wrong and that he was really sorry. He said he'd do anything to gain my trust in him back._

_This is the part where I started to hate myself because I… took him back._

_I was really lonely at the time, and breaking up with him meant losing another loved one in my life… I didn't want that to happen again._

_And then he changed._

_He didn't cheat anymore, but he wasn't the Jacob I once knew either._

_He kept borrowing from me, mostly. Money, cars, connections, and he basically bummed around my house all the time._

_I told myself that I was willing to share anything with him, because he said once before that he could see a future for us, that it wouldn't be easy, we'd have to work at it and it probably wouldn't be exactly what we imagined, but it was there, for us._

_-*-_

"So I believed him."

"Bella… Your future should be exactly what you imagine it to be, especially because you'd work hard for it. This Jacob kid certainly knew nothing about the future."

I smiled at him.

"Thank you, Edward."

"It's true." He smiled at me.

"So, you believed him…?"

_-*-_

_And then all my money started to disappear. Not drastically, though it was enough to make me worry. I didn't need so much money, but I wasn't going to let my trust fund go down the drain. My father worked hard to give me that._

"_Jake, could you perhaps lessen the street racing? I don't think my insurance can handle so much damage."_

"_Relax, Bells!" he said a little slurred, raising the beer he had in his hand, "The damage isn't _that_ bad! It's fun! Besides, you could always get a new car, right?"_

"_Right…" I said, not believing him._

"_Jake, it's not just the cars. The credit card company's telling me that I'm over my limit already? I just paid my bill two weeks ago!"_

"_Uh, yeah, I needed a vacation."_

"_In the Armani retail store?!"_

"_I can't go on a vacation without some new threads, Bells! Besides, I don't have as much clothes as you do!"_

"_Jacob," I only used his whole name when I was really mad, "Alice is a fashion designer and my best friend. She's been giving me samples since we were 13!"_

"_Really? Maybe I should give her a call…"_

"_JACOB!"_

"_Okay, okay! I'm sorry!"_

_I exhaled sharply. I was at the end of my rope._

"_Jacob, you can't keep spending like this, especially since it's not even _your_ money to begin with! I still have a business to run!"_

"_Why not just sell the damn thing and retire?" he asked, nonchalantly._

"_JACOB BLACK!"_

"_I'm sorry!! Bells, do you really think you can handle this by yourself??"_

"_I have been for some time now, in case you haven't noticed!"_

_He suddenly hugged me tightly to his chest and whispered in my ear,_

"_I'm sorry," it did sound like he was sincere. "I'm just… in a slump. I'm not used to having to share so much money. I promise it won't happen again."_

_I sighed._

"_Jake, you said we'd have a future together. But we can't live on dreams and promises. We have to face reality too."_

"_I know, I know…"_

_I pulled back and looked him in the eyes. I could see some of the old Jacob from when we first met, I smiled. I was glad to have him back._

"_Do you love me?" he asked me._

"_Yes…" I said breathlessly._

"_Will you give me another chance?"_

_-*-_

And then I dumped him.

"Wow… I thought you said you were glad to have him back?"

"I was."

"What happened?"

I shrugged.

"Too little, too late. And Leah, the girl he cheated on me with, called a few minutes later saying that she was pregnant. I kicked him out that night."

"I'm glad you did."

I giggled at him.

"Well, it's true! No woman, especially one such as yourself, should be treated that way."

"Thank you." I said, smiling at him. Edward really had a way with words, "I'm sorry, by the way."

"For what?" he looked at me quizzically.

"Alice told me that you lost someone you loved as well…"

He looked thoughtful for a moment and looked at me with his crooked grin.

"Thank you. Although, I've moved on."

This time, I looked at him quizzically.

"I loved Tanya, I still do, but I've grieved enough. And I think she knows that too. So we both let each other go, in a sense."

I didn't say anything, and the silence that fell upon us was comforting.

* * *

**R&R! :)**

**-MW-**


	9. Chapter Eight

**I don't own Twilight.**

**Enjoy! :)**

**-MW-**

* * *

Chapter 8

"Sway Your Head – We Shot the Moon"

"In The Blue – We Shot the Moon"

Bella POV

"So, how _do_ you plan on saving the Seattle branch?" Edward asked me.

I invited him to some coffee in a café a few blocks away from the company here in Seattle, so that we could both relax from today's events. It was almost our turn to order.

"I'm giving them money." I simply said.

"Yes, I figured that much, but how are you going to get the money?"

"Welcome to The Steaming Cup! My name is Ben, what can I get for you?" he interrupted.

"Ladies first." Edward said.

"I'll have a medium French Vanilla with a little whipped cream." I said.

"And how about you, sir?"

"I'll just have a medium black coffee, eight sugars and a dash of crème."

"Alright, one of our baristas will be over in a minute with your order."

We walked to a small table in the more private part of the small coffee shop.

"You didn't answer my question," he said sitting down.

I breathed in the smell of the coffee shop and sat down. I always did love the smell of coffee, especially when I was reading a book. My dad's office at home always smelled like coffee because he was working so much, so I used to sit in there with him, reading a book. We both enjoyed the silence.

"I'm selling my cars." A female barista arrived with our drinks, but her hand lingered on Edward's cup longer than necessary. I pretended to cough so she'd leave.

"You're selling your cars?" Edward asked incredulously as he took a sip of his coffee.

"Yes. Why is that so hard to believe?" I asked, taking a sip from mine.

"Well, you seem like you love those things."

"I'm not selling all of them, just the 911's. I haven't been using them much lately and I could use the space."

"For what? More cars?" he asked me in a mocking tone.

I shot a look at him and he just smirked at me.

"I'll think of something," I said, putting my cup down and taking out my phone.

"Jessica," I said, "could you call Mark from the Porsche dealership and tell him I want to find a buyer for all of my 911's…… Yeah…… I know……. Really...... Tell them I'll be back in New York by tomorrow…… Okay…… Thanks again, Jess."

"So, that's it then?" Edward asked.

"Yeah, I guess it is. My father's company will continue to run and the bank will have their money." I answered.

I took a long sip of my coffee, savoring the heat and the flavor, and my eyes travelled to Edward.

He had his cellphone out and he was texting somebody. Probably telling his company that the problem's solved over here already.

His pale hand reached out to lift his cup and press it to his lips, and then he put it back down on the table standing between us.

Eight sugars and a dash of crème, huh? Wonder what that tasted like.

My eyes studied his face and they landed on his lips. They were slightly wet from the coffee he drank, and then he licked his lips.

My heart started to beat furiously, as if it was going to explode if I didn't let it out right now. I could feel the heat rising from my chest to my cheeks, and all the while, I only thought of one thing…

I wonder what **that** tasted like…

* * *

"I am so glad to be going home!" I said, falling into one of the jet's couches. I stretched out my body and lay myself horizontally so I was taking up all of the space.

Edward chuckled from the couch across me, where he was sitting up.

"So am I."

I lay there with my eyes closed, when my thoughts went back to Edward and I in the coffee shop. I was watching him text on his phone, and then he licked his lips with the coffee and everything…

I was sure I was blushing, so I turned toward the couch, hiding my face from him.

Why is this happening to me now?

_You know you love him._

That's from Gossip Girl! What are you doing here?

_What do you mean what am I doing here? I'm you!_

Right… Right…

_So, have you told him yet?_

Told him what?

_That you like him, you weirdo._

I do not!

_*Shows mental image of Edward licking his lips*_

I blushed even harder. Okay, fine, maybe I do. So?

_So? Tell him! _

I can't just tell him! He'll think I'm weird!

_How come?_

Well, first of all, we're business partners.

_You'll get to see each other all the time._

He probably already has someone!

_You._

He's Alice's brother!

_You know she'd be happy for you anyway._

He's… He's…

_Smart, handsome, sexy, goal-oriented…_

Okay! Okay! I get your point!

_Do you?_

Yes.

_I don't think you do._

I do.

_Are you sure?_

Yes!

_Then say it._

Say what? Yes?

_No! Say you like Edward Cullen._

*sigh* I like Edward Cullen.

_Now, do you get my point?_

Yes.

_I don't think you do._

I just told you I did.

_Are you sure?_

Yes.

_Say it._

"I DO!!!" I shot up from the couch.

Edward chuckled from beside me.

"Okay, you do."

"R-Right…" I said extremely embarrassed. I got up from the couch and made my way to the bathroom.

This was going to be a long flight.

* * *

Rosalie POV

"Maybe I didn't make myself clear enough," I said over the phone, "I am Rosalie Hale, adopted _daughter _of Charles Swan, _founder _and former C-E-_O_ of Swan Corp. Do you _really _want to mess with me right now?"

I sighed in frustration. I don't usually start name-dropping unless I'm really pissed off, and right now... I am extremely pissed off. Uncle Charlie was like a father to me, especially when my mother left us at a really young age. I started working here with Bella while we were in college, and just like her, I wanted to do him proud. It was the least I could do after all he's done for me.

"Right. I thought so. I want those packages delivered to Cullen Corp. immediately."

I put the phone down and heard a knock on my door.

"Come in."

"Miss Hale." Someone greeted.

I looked up to see Mr. Newton, one of the board members here at Swan Corp. He was somewhere in his late thirties with blond hair, blue eyes, and he already had a few wrinkles showing around his eyes.

"Mister Newton" I greeted back, "Please, have a seat."

"Where is Miss Swan?"

"She's in Seattle with Edward Cullen. They took care of it last night."

"Well, that's very good to hear. And Miss Swan better get used to travelling."

This confused me, what did he mean?

"What do you mean?"

Was he going to make her travel from one country to another? Not a good idea. I went through that a few months ago, and it really put a strain on my relationship with Emmett. We would always fight because I was gone so much and whenever I had any layovers in New York, I had to spend that time in a lot of meetings with different people.

But, thankfully, the board told me I was done traveling abroad and that I wouldn't be doing a repeat of that anytime soon.

"Well, she is the new CEO of this company – "

"And she's been doing an incredible job." I interrupted, my anger rising.

He chuckled.

"I'm not here to judge, Miss Hale."

"Then, please, go on." I said through gritted teeth.

He stayed silent for a moment, looking at me and then started again.

"You are – how shall I say this – second-in-command of Swan Corp., yes?"

"I am perfectly aware of my standing here."

"Good. Then, as the second-in-command, you are to take over the first-in-command if he or she proves to be unavailable in any aspect?"

"Where are you going with this, Newton?" I never address any authority figures so informally, but this guy was just ticking me off.

"Let's just say that I have special plans for Isabella."

"Well, she's not here right now. And as second-in-command, I do believe I have the right to know… Everything."

He brought his hands together, placed his chin on top of them and became silent again.

Was there going to be some sort of mutiny here? I can't let that happen. Bella has worked too hard for this place. She deserved to be in charge. Not only that but _I_ worked hard as well. If this fool knew me at all, he would know that I wasn't going to let some old, saggy-faced, pompous idiot get in the way of everything Bella and I have worked hard for.

He sighed and began to speak.

"Alright, I suppose I should tell you. You will know sooner or later anyway."

Okay, now I was just confused.

"We've been trying to break through to the European markets for the past few years, sending over documents and permits for building – things to be approved."

I waited for him to continue.

"They just called us today, saying we could."

I became speechless.

He smiled and stood up, walking over to the window and looking outside. Then after a while, he turned to look back at me with an even bigger smile on his face.

"We're building a branch in Italy, Miss Hale."

After I got over the shock, I stood up and followed him to the window.

"But what does all of this have to do with Bella?"

I was ecstatic, but I had to keep my cool and find out why he was so interested in Bella.

"We need someone to see to it that everything will go as planned over there."

"So… She's leaving?"

"Yes, she will stay there. But not permanently, unless she wishes to." He chuckled.

"Does she know about the breakthrough?"

"Not yet. We'd prefer to tell her once she gets back from Seattle."

"She is going to die!" I said, laughing. Mister Newton laughed along with me and soon our laughter died.

"She isn't seeing anyone, is she?" he asked, sounding concerned.

I knew what he meant. He didn't want to cause anything between Bella and the guy she was seeing. She'll be living in Italy for a few years, at the very least. How would they be able to work it out?

I thought about it for a moment and then remembered what Emmett told me before...

_"He's totally in love with her, Rose! And I'm sure she is too! He hasn't been able to shut up about her since the night of her birthday party! Sometimes I just wanna hit him over the head with a door or something, you know? But I got him to admit that he likes her! I'm finally going to have a little sister! How cool is that??" _

I lightly shook my head and smiled at Newton.

I had to talk to Bella about Edward.

Soon.

* * *

**Dun dun duuuun!**

**R&R, please! :0**

**-MW-**


	10. Chapter Nine

**I ran out of ideas here. It's only 6 pages in MS Word. I'm not used to writing that little.**

**I have ideas for a new story maybe, or a songfic collection. But I will finish this first.**

**Enjoy! :)**

**-MW-**

* * *

Chapter 9

"I'm In Love With a Girl – Gavin DeGraw"

"Flightless Bird, American Mouth – Iron & Wine"

"Myspace Girl – The Afters"

**AT THE NEXT-NEXT-NEXT MONTHLY MEETING. (So this is December, people.)**

Edward POV

How was I going to go about this?

I knew liked Bella, a lot. And all the time we've been spending together has been great but they weren't exactly… dates.

I keep trying to ask her out but she's always beating me to the punch line.

_-FLASHBACK-_

_I was walking into the diner near Swan Corp. for some of their apple pie – I love that thing, it's so good – when I ran into her at the entrance – literally._

"_I'm so sorry!" we both said at the same time._

_As soon as I saw that it was her, I suddenly smiled. She smiled back at me._

"_Edward, what a surprise! I didn't expect to see you here!"_

"_Yeah," I ran a hand through my hair, "me either." I lied._

_I was so expecting her. I had this plan to stay here all day if I had to._

_Geez, stalker much?_

_Okay, enough with the inner-self talking. Ask her to dinner or something!_

"_Do you wanna get something to eat?" she asked me._

"_Um, sure. Ladies first?" I gestured to the diner._

"_Thank you," she said, smiling at me._

_Nice. That was real smooth, Edward._

_I followed her to a private booth that was next to the front window of the diner._

"_Favorite spot?" I asked her._

"_You could say that," she smiled again, "I came here after my very first meeting with the board."_

_I made a face at her._

"_First board meeting..." I said knowingly, "I can still remember mine."_

"_I'm sure it wasn't half as bad as mine."_

"_Hey, Bella! And Bella's…" she trailed off when she saw me._

"_Edward." I answered for her._

_She laughed a little and I suddenly realized how that must have sounded._

"_My name is Angela, and I'll be your waitress for today. What can I get for you guys?"_

"_Apple pie." We said at the same time again._

_I looked at her and she looked at me, we both had humor in our eyes._

"_So cute," Angela said quietly, "Anything else?"_

"_Just water." Bella said._

"_For me as well."_

"_Alright, two apple pies and two waters coming right up!" she said as she left to place our orders._

"_So you like apple pie?" she asked me._

"_Only the one they serve here. It's the best one in New York, and I can vouch for that."_

"_I believe you," she said, smiling, "Rose told me to try it sometime. So, here I am."_

_It got silent at our table, so I started a conversation because I wanted to avoid any awkward moments between us._

"_Cindy Lauper," I said._

_She looked at me like I had an extra head growing out of my neck._

"_What?"_

"_You said your first board meeting couldn't have been half as bad as mine. My answer to that is Cindy Lauper." I said with slight embarrassment, "Alice was very excited for me that day. Saying something like, I finally got to play with the big boys."_

_She laughed._

_I wanted to hear it again._

"_Then in the middle of the meeting, my phone went off. Cindy Lauper's Girls Just Wanna Have Fun was Alice's ringtone back then."_

_She was still laughing._

_And I felt good, knowing that it was because of me._

"_Here are your apple pies," Angela put down our plates in front of us, "and your waters."_

"_Thanks, Ang."_

"_Thank you."_

"_No problem. Just call me over if you need anything else." Then she left to serve another table that was a few feet away from us._

_We ate in silence for a few seconds before she put her fork down and her hands on her lap. She sat up straight and took a glance out the window before she spoke._

"_Inexperienced."_

_This time it was my turn to look at her like she had two heads._

_She just smiled at me and I immediately understood._

_How could a bunch of old men look down on her? She was perfect for the job!_

"_I was a nervous wreck," she admitted, blushing, "I tried to keep calm when I got there."_

"_What happened?" I asked her._

_She bit her lip before answering._

"_The moment I walked in there, everything went silent. They were all watching my every move like a hawk. And then when the actual meeting started, I voiced out my opinions every now and then – trying to not seem overpowering but at the same time, letting them know that I should be heard."_

_I nodded. She sounded fine to me, what was she talking about 'inexperience'?_

"_And then it started… All the questions, mostly from Newton."_

_I nodded. Mike Newton was one of the board members, and I think one of her dad's good friends._

"_I suppose it was like some kind of test to him, to see if I actually was worthy for this position and everything that came with it."_

_I found myself listening to her intently as she was looking down at her plate while she talked._

"_He kept throwing me these questions about business, and the company, and these situations that _could_ happen and asked what I would do. I knew all the answers and I was totally prepared for it. But they kept getting stuck in my throat. The others never gave me time to answer anything. They said that thinking fast was one of the most important skills I would ever need to run the business. I was just really intimidated by all of them."_

_She didn't cry, but she looked really sad. This made everything around me seem darker. Somehow, her moods always affected everything around and about me._

_Suddenly she smiled – a real smile – and the moment she did, everything became bright again._

"_But you're stronger now." I made it sound like an observation._

_I guess she caught on my tone because she replied with a soft 'thank you' and blushed again._

"_So, was Alice's ringtone really Cindy Lauper?"_

_I laughed and we got into a conversation about Alice and her odd choice for a ringtone._

_-END FLASHBACK-_

I did three quick knocks on her door and this time, I waited patiently for her to answer instead of going at a repeat of last time.

I smirked to myself. I had to admit, that was a little funny.

The door opened to a smiling Bella – her face bruise-free.

"Edward! You're right on time! Please, come in." she motioned for me to come in with her hand.

I walked in to find Rosalie Hale sitting on one of the chairs in front of Bella's desk, looking like she had just cried.

"Edward! I see you're here for the monthly meeting again." She said, smiling at me.

I could see why Emmett loved her so much. First of all, she's his type – physically and emotionally. And they could handle each other's strong personalities.

Second, Bella said that Rosalie always took care of her ever since they were kids, looking out for each other and all. I was forever grateful to her for that.

And lastly, Emmett was a sucker for blondes.

"Hello, Rosalie. Yeah, I am…" I said, suspiciously. But what was she doing in here in the first place?

I turned to Bella, hoping to find some kind of answer. But she was looking past me, staring off into the distance, with the corners of her mouth tugged downwards.

"Well, I suppose I'll leave you two now. Bella, call me." She said, shutting the door behind her.

Bella walked from her position at the door towards one of the chairs in front of her desk and motioned for me to sit in the one across from her.

"'Call me'?" I said, smirking, "What, did she ask you out on a date or something? Finally getting rid of Emmett, huh? Can't say I blame her." I joked.

She said nothing. She just smiled weakly at me and said,

"Let's get started."

* * *

We were done discussing the important details now, and her earlier mood's been consistent. She looked so down, and I really wanted her to not be. Everything was going fine with both our companies and there was nothing to worry about. So why was she still so gloomy?

"Bella," she was fixing some books on her massive bookshelf, most of which looked like classics, "What did Rosalie say to you earlier?"

She stopped, her hands in mid-air, just about to put back one of the thicker books.

She sighed and turned to me, the book still in her hands. She walked over to me and put the book on her desk, then folded her arms across her chest and smiled.

"Would you like to go to the Charity Ball with me, Edward?"

"Yes," I immediately answered. I doubted that that was why she looked so upset.

"Bella, what's going on?"

"Edward, I'm leaving."

My heart dropped.

"…on a business trip?" I asked, hoping she would say yes.

She sighed again and sat down in front of me, crossing her legs.

"Something like that."

This confused me even more.

"I don't understand." I took her hands in mine and looked her in the eyes, "Bella, what are you talking about?"

She started to tear up and sob a little.

I pulled her up with me and hugged her as tightly as I could without hurting her.

"Shh… Bella… Shh… It's okay… Don't cry, please?"

I couldn't stand to see her like this, and it didn't help at all that I knew nothing of what was going on.

She pulled away from me a little and wiped her eyes before she looked at me.

"They're asking me to move to Italy."

* * *

***GASP* DUN DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUUN!!!!!!!!**

**hehehe :D**

**R&R! :)  
**

**-MW-**


	11. Chapter Ten

**I do not own Twilight.**

**Enjoy! :)**

**-MW-**

* * *

Chapter 10

"Take Me Away (Acoustic) – Lifehouse"

"Vegas Skies – The Cab"

Bella POV

So here I am, sitting in my office, minding my own business…

Okay, that sounds so cheesy, but that's what I was doing. I had the afternoon off since Edward was coming for the meeting, so I was just sitting behind my desk, waiting for him to arrive.

*Knock knock knock*

"Come in!" I knew it couldn't be Edward because then he'd be 2 hours early for our meeting. Not that I'd mind at all…

"Rose!" I said in mild surprise.

"Hey, Bella, I need to talk to you."

"Okay, sure, what's up?" I got a glass of water from behind my chair and drank some of it.

She crossed the room in a few strides and sat on one of the chairs in front of the desk, facing it towards me.

"Do you love Edward?" I was suddenly choking on my water.

"What *cough* are you *cough*cough**cough*…!!!"

"Bella," she said more seriously, "do you love Edward? Enough to stay here – in New York – for him?"

I stared at her with my eyes wide.

_Love_ Edward? Do I _love_ Edward?

"Why? What's going on, Rose?"

She sighed and got up from her seat, pacing back and forth.

Then she sat down again and took my hands in hers.

"We had a breakthrough."

"Really? Where?" Suddenly everything was coming together, piece by piece. But I still didn't understand why Rose asked me if I loved Edward.

_Oh yes, you do._

"Italy."

"Rose, that's great!" I said, happily, "But what does that have to do with Edward? And love?" I asked, still a bit confused.

She was just staring at me for a while, and I could see a lot of emotions going on in her eyes.

"Rose, you're scaring me…"

With the way she was looking at me now, I couldn't help but feel a lot of anxiety. I was shaking on the inside but then I noticed that my arms were shaking as well. I almost felt like I was going to crumble soon…

"They want you to go."

And I did.

-

We both just sat there, talking about what Newton told her about Italy.

"How long am I supposed to be gone?"

"He said at least a few years."

"When?"

"One week."

I thought about everything at that moment. I thought about my dad and how happy he would have been to hear that we finally broke through to the European market. I thought about New York and how different it would be compared to Italy. I thought about the day my mother left us. I thought about Alice, Rose, Emmett, Jasper, and even Jacob. But the one I thought about the most was Edward.

We had grown so close these past few months, and what we had was wonderful. There weren't any words to describe this feeling. It was better than what I had with Jacob, more powerful than anything I've ever experienced before. And yet here I am, about to go to Italy in a week, leaving behind so many wonderful… Wait a minute.

"_One week?_" I whispered.

A few tears escaped from my eyes and I quickly wiped them away, hoping that the part about me leaving wasn't true.

"You should ask him to the Ball tonight." Rosalie said, smiling weakly.

I laughed bitterly and wiped my eyes again. The tears were still escaping.

* * *

"Edward! You're right on time! Please, come in!" I faked. I really couldn't afford for him to see me cry.

"Edward! I see you're here for the monthly meeting again!" Rosalie said, smiling.

"Hello, Rosalie. Yeah, I am…"

I was just staring off past Edward's figure, thinking if I should tell him about Italy. I didn't know how he would react. Heck, I didn't know if he would react at all. Maybe I'd misunderstood him…

"Well, I suppose I'll leave you two now. Bella, call me." Rose said, shutting the door behind her.

"Call me?" he smirked, "What, did she ask you out on a date or something? Finally getting rid of Emmett, huh? Can't say I blame her." He joked.

I didn't have the energy to joke around with him today. I just smiled weakly at him.

"Let's get started."

* * *

I was arranging the books on my bookshelf – Romeo and Juliet, Wuthering Heights, Sense and Sensibility, just some of my favorites. I could feel Edward's gaze on me. I really wish he'd stop looking at me, like he was expecting me to tell him everything. Although, I probably would…

"Bella, what did Rosalie say to you earlier?"

I stopped fixing my books. I sighed. I suppose now's a good a time as any.

I turned to him – with the book I was holding earlier still in my hands – and walked towards him, thinking about what Rose said earlier.

"_Do you love Edward?"_

"_You should ask him to the Ball."_

"_Bella, do you love Edward? Enough to stay here – in New York – for him?"_

I put the book down on my desk, crossed my arms and smiled at him.

"Would you like to go to the Charity Ball with me, Edward?"

"Yes." He answered. I would have laughed at his eagerness, but I didn't have the heart for it.

"Bella, what's going on?"

"Edward, I'm leaving." I said quickly. _Like a band-aid_, I thought, _quick and easy_. His expression fell.

"…on a business trip?" I sighed and sat down in front of him.

"Something like that." His eyebrows furrowed.

"I don't understand," he took my hands in his, "Bella, what are you talking about?"

I couldn't hold it in anymore. I started to cry again for the second time.

He stood up, pulling me along with him, and held me tightly to his chest.

"Shh… Bella… Shh… It's okay… Don't cry, please?"

This felt like the pain after you ripped the band-aid. I didn't want to feel like this. And I didn't want Edward to feel like this because of me.

I didn't want to see him sad, and I especially didn't want to leave him. He meant too much to me.

I pulled away from him and looked him in the eyes.

I could see myself in them, they were so clear. I wanted to be able to do this all the time – have him hold me like this and just stare into his eyes – but under better circumstances.

"They're asking me to move to Italy."

Yeah. Like that could happen now.

-

"W-What? Why?"

I wanted to answer him in as little words as possible.

"We had a breakthrough." He was silent for a moment.

"Do you have to go?" I sighed and rubbed my temples.

They told me I could send someone else, but they'd prefer it if… I… went instead."

"Then don't," he pleaded, "Bella, please, don't go…"

My phone vibrated and I quickly read the text message.

Alice.

"I'm sorry, Edward, I have to go." I left the room without letting him say anything else.

I met Rose in the elevator and the moment the doors closed, tears flowed freely from my face, while she rubbed my back, soothing me.

* * *

Alice POV

Today, I was going to pick up Bella and Rose so we could head to my studio so I can let them try on their gowns for the Charity tonight. It's going to be so fun! I always love a good party!

I pulled up to the Swan Corp. building and sent a quick text to both of them, saying I was outside.

I looked at the tall building beside me and frowned.

I was glad I didn't have to work in a place like this – it's so closed off. I'd probably die before I ever get employed in a place like this.

Bella and Rose came out of the revolving door and I immediately noticed the look on their faces, it was hard to miss.

They both had frowns on and their eyebrows were slanted downwards. And they weren't talking to each other.

I sighed to myself. This was probably about the Italy thing. Rose called me earlier and told me all about it. She also said that she told Bella to ask Edward to the Ball tonight.

Now, I still wasn't too keen on Bella and Edward being together just because of my brother's pigheadedness. But if Bella's happy, then I _will_ beat some sense into that boy.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" I asked as they got in my car.

They just shook their heads and I took that as my cue to step on the gas.

* * *

"These will look so good on us!"

By the time we got to my studio, the mood had lightened up and everyone was in almost high spirits again.

"Alice, these look beautiful!" Rose gushed.

"Yeah, they really are, Ali. Thank you." Bella smiled.

I just laughed at my friends' antics.

"You guys! It's not like I haven't been designing for you all your life! But thank you," I smiled widely at them, "Now, go try them on! I want to see what they look like on you!"

(AN: The gowns can be seen in my profile. /~michaelawrites/)

-

We all came out of the dressing room at almost the same time, and when I saw Rose and Bella, I just had to marvel at the workmanship.

"Oh, I am _good._"

"Alice, these look beautiful!" Rose said again.

"You did an amazing job!" Bella complimented.

Looking at Bella spin around in front of the full-length mirror reminded me of how happy I've seen Edward around the house lately. He's been coming home earlier, spending time with the family, eating dinner with the family, and he even cleared a few days off his schedule just to take us all on a mini-vacation.

I still wasn't sure if Bella was the cause of all this and I still wasn't sure if Edward's intentions were pure. But I did like the new Edward. He was easier to be around and talk to.

"Bella! Come here!" Rose called her over to the catwalk I had built in the studio, and they were pretending that they were runway models, posing for the nonexistent photographers at the end.

I smiled at the both of them.

I suppose I did accept this new Edward. Apparently, he's doing some good to Bella as well. She has never set foot on that catwalk since the first day I had it installed there, claiming that she had the grace of a pro-wrestler on ice.

But now, looking at her, she's smiling and laughing, posing for pictures for Rose's camera even! She looks and feels different. Never in a million years would she have posed in front of any kind of camera like that.

"Okay, guys! Enough with the fun! My glam squad's coming in soon to prepare us for the Ball tonight!"

They both ran over to the vanities that I had installed as well and started calling dibs on the seats they wanted, mostly fighting over the one with the biggest mirror.

I just laughed throughout their whole conversation.

"I have more hair!"

"Rose, we both have the same hair!"

"Uh… I'm blonde!"

"So??"

"Haven't you ever heard that blondes have all the fun?"

"Yeah, whatever." Bella mumbled under her breath.

"What was that?!"

"Nothing! Just let me sit there!"

"No! I called dibs on it first!"

"No, I did! You were late by two seconds!"

"Oh, so now you think you run faster than me?"

"I know I do 'cause I got here before you did, ergo, my seat!"

"This is so unfair! Alice! Will you please tell her that I got here first?"

"Oh, so now you're dragging Alice into this?"

"Well, she _owns _the place!"

I sighed, shaking my head.

It's like they have never been here before in their lives.

I walked over, put both my hands in front of their faces.

"Quit it!" I said.

Then I reached towards a piece of wood that was dividing the mirror and I pulled it down, and did the same with the second one.

"There!" I said, rolling my eyes, "Geez, it's like you guys have never set foot in here before!"

They just stood there with their mouths formed into small O's.

* * *

**How excitiiiiing :D**

**R&R, please! :)**

**-MW-**


	12. Chapter Eleven

**I know this chapter is really long, but it's WORTH IT.**

**It's one of my favorite chapters. :)**

**I hope you like it!**

**-MW-**

**P.S. I suggest listening to the Rascal Flatts song when Edward's 2nd POV starts.I think it fits perfectly. :D**

* * *

Chapter 11

"Lifeline – Kjwan"

"What Hurts the Most – Rascal Flatts"

"What If – Safety Suit"

Edward POV

"Good evening, Mister Edward."

"Hello, Emma. I'm here for Bella."

"Ah, yes, she will be right down. Miss Alice and Miss Rosalie are still with her."

"Thank you."

We had all agreed to go to the Charity together as a group – well, I was rather forced into it. I wanted more alone time with Bella. I'd told myself that if she was going to choose whether or not to want to have me, then she should know everything – about my father's condition, Tanya, what I did… she deserved to know. And if she still wants me, even after all the begging and groveling on my part, then I'm all hers.

My phone rang, snapping me out of my reverie.

"Hello?"

"Son, where are you?"

"I'm at Bella's. We're going to the Ball together, didn't I tell you?"

"No… You didn't…"

"Oh. Well, I don't know how much more until we get there. Alice and Rosalie are up there with her."

"Alright, don't be too late. I have some very important news to announce and I need you here with me. Good practice for when you take over the company." I could feel the smile in his voice.

"Okay, I won't." I said suspiciously.

Just as I snapped the phone shut, the doorbell rang and whoever was on the other side couldn't wait for Emma to open it.

"ED-WURD!!! BROTHER, ARE YOU HERE???" I heard Emmett shout.

"Emmett, will you keep your voice down?" someone else said.

I stood up chuckling, making my way to the entrance.

"Jasper! Emmet! You sure know how to make an entrance."

"You forget to whom you are talking to, Edward." Jasper said, rolling his eyes.

"What does that mean, _Jazzy_?" Emmett said, using Alice's pet name for him.

"You know what it means,_ Emmetty-boo-boo-poo_."

Emmett was advancing towards Jasper with a menacing glare.

"Alright, alright, stop crying like little girls. Let's just sit in the living room and wait for the ladies to finish." I said, standing between them.

"What's taking them so long, anyway?" Emmett asked, the earlier situation completely forgotten. It did always amaze me how my brother could get easily distracted.

"Relax, we just got here." Jasper said, with no evidence of his irritation from earlier left on his face.

"I'm sure they just want to look their best." I said, leading the way to the living room.

We sat around the room, and then the one thing I did not want to talk about showed its ugly rear right out of Emmett's mouth.

"So, Eddie-boy, you finally get Bella to fall in love with you?"

Jasper's head snapped in my direction.

"What?"

"I… Uh… I don't…" Great. Thanks, Emmett.

"What is he talking about Edward?"

"Didn't Alice tell you?" Emmett asked him.

"Alice?" Jasper and I said at the same time. He looked from Jasper to me, and again before he answered.

"Well, first of all," he turned to me, "you can't honestly believe that she bought that whole speech-thing you gave her last time, did you?"

Then he turned to Jasper.

"That's the thing I told you about earlier."

"_Emmett!_ That's not--! Jasper, I--!" I sighed in frustration and ran a hand through my hair, "That's not true!!"

"Edward," Jasper said, surprisingly calm, "the only reason why I haven't lunged for your throat _yet_," he made sure to emphasize that word, "is because it would make your family unhappy, and I don't want Alice to be unhappy. Now…" he stood up and walked towards me, stopping just a foot away from me.

"I may not have adopted the Swan name, but she means more to me than just that. She's like a _sister_ to me, Edward. If you do anything at all to hurt her, I will personally make sure that you have to be fed through a tube that goes through a hole... In. Your. Throat."

I really did not want to get on Jasper's bad side. He's always been the quiet one out of all of us and his silence is what always scared me the most. I never knew what was on his mind. I wonder what he'd do if he found out I pushed Alice off her bike when we were six…

Bella POV

I stood in front of my full-length mirror, examining myself. My hair was curled and put in a low side-ponytail – a little informal for tonight's event but I thought it'd balance my entire look nicely and my dress was probably the most beautiful thing Alice has made me wear so far.

"Wow, Bella." Rosalie said, coming from my walk-in where she left Alice.

"Thanks," I smiled at her. I couldn't believe that she thought I looked good. She looked like she just came out of a magazine!

"Rose, you look better than me, hands down!" she just laughed and said thank you before going to my vanity and sitting in front of it. I turned to look at myself in the mirror again.

"Rose… Do you think it'd be weird if…" I was so embarrassed to ask her this.

"If what, Bella?" she asked, turning herself in the seat so she was now facing me. I bit my lip.

"If Edward and I were to… You know…"

"OH. Hmm… I don't think so. You guys are so good together! Why would it be weird?"

I sighed, giving up. There _was_ no reason that we shouldn't be together. My silence made that clear to Rose.

"Bella… Don't be afraid to try again. I know that your past with Jake was bad, but Edward seems like a really nice, genuine guy."

I still wasn't convinced. Not that Edward was a good guy, I'm sure he was… But I wasn't convinced that I was good enough for him. I mean, who would want to date someone with as much extra baggage as I have?

"Come on, sweetie, don't be afraid." Rose tried again, smiling at me.

"Okay…" I said, confidence growing in my voice, "I will try."

Alice POV

I have to get to Edward. Soon.

**(.At the Ball.)**

[A/N: I didn't bother putting in a part where the guys see the girls for the first time in their dresses because we all know how much time seems to stop and their hearts speed up whenever they see each other. *rolls eyes*]

Bella POV

"Good evening, everybody, and welcome to the annual Swan-Cullen joint Charity Ball!" I said into the mic.

I stood on the stage, next to Carlisle. As heads of the companies, we were supposed to give a short speech before the actual festivities started. But I had a surprise of my own for someone tonight.

Applause could be heard from everyone in the ballroom. I can already tell that tonight's going to be amazing.

"Tonight, we are celebrating something much more than just a simple charity. The proceeds from tonight will be going to a charity that the Swans and Cullens have been helping out for a very long time now. So not only will the cancer-stricken children be receiving the much-needed medical care, but they will know that there are many of us who care for them, and wish for them a bright future."

As Carlisle spoke, I searched the crowd below for the bronze head of hair I've grown rather fond of. He stood there, looking right at me, smiling. I smiled back. I told him that I haven't decided yet on the Italy issue, but I think deep down, I already have.

I wasn't doing this entirely for my father, though it seemed that way in the beginning. Now, I'm also doing it for me. This experience will help me grow as a businesswoman, an entrepreneur, and also a meticulously responsible person. It may sound relatively uninteresting to some people, but I believe in my heart that this is meant for me.

I didn't understand, though, why he doesn't want me to leave.

"Here's to tonight – may it change our lives forever!" I raised my glass to his toast and took a sip of my champagne.

* * *

"Rose, may I speak with you for a moment?"

"I have to go find Jasper. I'll see you later." Alice said, winking at the both of us. I had told her of my plans earlier this month, and after crying with her for a good hour, she started getting excited. But Rose just had a look of confusion on her face.

"What's up, Bella?" she asked, turning to me.

"Rose, I love you," I started, "You're an amazing sister to me; smart, beautiful, strong-willed, caring, passionate and you've got a good head on your shoulders. You're perfect for this and I know you won't disappoint me – "

"Bella, sweetie, slow down! I'm not understanding anything… What are you talking about?" she asked with a completely and even more confused expression on her face than before.

I laughed and shook my head. I guess I shouldn't have started it this way. I smiled at her before I began again,

"Bottom line?"

"Bottom line." She said, smirking.

"I've decided to go to Italy."

She just stood there with her mouth formed into a small "O" and her eyes wide.

"What?? You're leaving?? What about Edward??"

_Yes, what about Edward?_

"That doesn't matter right now. What matters now is… I'm leaving you in charge of New York for a couple of years."

It took a while before her reaction finally turned into the one I was looking for – eyes still wide, mouth formed into a smile that showed off all her white teeth and reached up so far her eyes that it looked like she could break her face at any moment.

"Really?" she squeaked.

I laughed at this and nodded my head. Suddenly she jumped on me and hugged me so tight while smothering me with little kisses.

"Oh, thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you so much, Bella! You have no idea! THANK YOU!!!"

"You deserve it, Rose," I said, laughing.

"I won't disappoint you!"

"I know you won't."

She pulled back and looked at me for a moment before opening her mouth to ask,

"What about Edward?"

I looked at her, trying not to show any emotion on my face so that she wouldn't convince me to stay. So, instead, I changed the topic.

"Do you mind if I announced it tonight?"

That worked because she started smiling again and nodding her head so fast, jumping up and down a little, then ran off to the sound people we hired to tell them I'd be using the microphone later.

Edward POV

"May I have this dance?"

She spun around, and smiled when she saw me. I will truly never get tired of her doing that. It seems so simple, but it makes me feel good knowing that I make her smile.

"I thought you'd never ask."

I took her hand and led her to the dance floor, passing through the sea of people. We stopped right in the middle and I placed her right hand above where my heart was and looked her intently in the eyes.

"It's yours, if you want it."

She blushed scarlet and I smiled, showing her I was only half joking.

We swayed a few seconds into the music before she spoke,

"So, what do you think? Are you enjoying yourself?"

I nodded my head and smiled at her.

"It's amazing, Bella. You did a wonderful job."

She blushed again and said a small thank you. I sighed and leaned into her hair, taking in her scent.

_Strawberries_, I thought.

I suddenly wanted her to know. Everything. I knew that the odds were probably stacked against me, but I had to try.

"Bella, I…"

She looked up at me, wonder filling her eyes.

"Yes, Edward?"

I turned away, ignoring her and looked to my right; Alice and Jasper were dancing, just holding each other close and staring into each other's eyes, but then Alice suddenly snapped her head in my direction and was glaring at me. I turned away quickly, hoping that she hadn't seen me staring. I saw on the other side, Rosalie and Emmett swaying along to the music as well, but they looked more like they were having a quiet conversation. They were both really smiling, happy at whatever they were talking about.

I swallowed air, trying to soothe the sudden erratic beating of my heart and my lungs' lacking in capacity to work properly. As I breathed in deeply, all the times I'd spent with Bella came flooding into my mind. I thought about her birthday party and how she had asked me to be her date. I thought about the interest we share in cars. _Cars._ I thought about the business trip to Seattle and what she had done for the company. I thought about how she had trusted me enough to confide in me about her past. I thought about the many times I'd wait for her and "accidentally" run into her at the diner. I thought about her – with much sadness – possibly leaving for Italy for _years_, knowing that I could never be without her for even a day.

As these images were going through my head, my breathing slowed down and I almost became still. I looked at Bella, then up to the chandelier that was dimly lit, hanging above us, creating a romantic ambiance, and around the room, trying my best to keep my composure, then back to Bella again.

She smiled at me and I smiled back at her, and all I could do at that moment was wonder how I had ever let myself fall in love with Bella Swan.

Bella POV

I don't want this moment to ever end.

Everything about this moment is perfect, almost like a dream. And I never wanted to wake up.

The song was about to end, and I wasn't sure if I should take the opportunity presenting itself.

I love him. I wanted to say it. But that would only hurt us both because I was leaving for Italy in less than two weeks. Should I even tell him I'd decided to leave…?

What am I thinking? Of course I should!

"Bella?" his voice brought me out of my thoughts.

"Hmm?" His body shook with laughter and his face had that smile that reached up to his eyes. I was going to miss that… Then he stopped and looked at me seriously.

"Bella, love, there's… Something that I need to tell you… And, hopefully, you will let me explain first before you decide—"

"Bella!" Rosalie's voice interrupted. "It's almost time!" I knew I couldn't take this away from her. She's worked so hard and Charlie would have wanted this. Days before this ball, I was deciding whether or not tonight would be the night I announce my departure. But I decided against it, thinking that the only people that needed to know, I should tell in private. The papers can find out about it after I've left.

"I'm sorry, Edward. Hold that thought?"

He smiled, but the disappointment was evident in his eyes.

"Of course. I'll be right here."

I turned to follow Rosalie and leave Edward behind. After walking a few feet away from him, I realized that he had to know. This could be my last chance and I didn't want to let it pass.

I turned around and started to walk back to him.

As I was approaching him, I noticed that he was talking to someone – more like arguing, really. He had his back to me and I could see some of the fabric from the person he was arguing with.

_Alice?_

"Alice, _please, don't."_

"Are you kidding me? I am not just going to stand by and watch you do this, Edward!"

I was almost to where they were now and I could hear their conversation more clearly.

"But, Alice, you don't understand! It's not what you think!"

"Oh, really, Edward? It's _not_ what I think it is?"

"Yes!"

"Really?! So you're not just using Bella to finally get your hands on the company??"

"N-No! It's not like that anymore, Alice!"

"'Anymore'? Please, Edward, spare me. And stay away from Bella! I mean it!"

"Alice, please, listen to me!"

"Why should I, Edward? You're only out to hurt me best friend! You are really selfish, brother. You get into a relationship with Bella just to prove to dad that you can have a life outside the office, so he'd be comfortable with you running the place! Isn't that right??"

He didn't say anything.

"Answer me, Edward!"

His fists were shaking now.

"Yes," he said, through gritted teeth.

My mind was…

Empty.

I heard Alice gasp, "Bella!"

Edward turned, eyes wide, speechless.

I looked around, willing the tears not to come, and hoping to find an escape. This would be the time I wish for the ground to open up and swallow me.

"Good evening, once again, ladies and gentlemen!" I heard Carlisle's voice through the speakers. He took a glass of champagne from a waiter passing by and raised it up.

"I have an announcement to make…"

I walked towards Edward, but didn't look at him.

"Is this true?" I whispered.

He didn't answer me. He couldn't answer.

"Bella? Bella Swan? Where are you?" came Carlisle's voice again.

The bright spotlight landed on me, making me squint my eyes.

"Ah! There you are! Come up here!"

Everyone started applauding as I slowly made my way to the stage, looking at the ground.

"I've been told that you have some very important news to share as well. But you should go first." He said as I walked up the stage.

"I…"

I looked around the room, avoiding those green eyes, and cleared my throat.

"Thank you all again for coming tonight. We really appreciate you being here and I'm sure the cancer patients will appreciate it as much too."

Everyone applauded for a short while, and then it died down.

I looked down at my dress – my beautiful dress. Alice had made it especially for me to wear tonight. I promised myself that I would do this dress justice. That I would try to be as beautiful as this dress made me feel. But I couldn't.

I looked at the audience again and smiled.

"There are a few specific people that I would like to acknowledge tonight. First, thank you so much to my best friend, Alice Cullen, for designing and making this wonderful gown for me," I could see her smile weakly at me.

"Second, I would like to thank Carlisle, for co-hosting, but more than that, for being my father's greatest friend. And…"

This is it. No turning back.

I took a deep breath and just let it out.

"Tonight, I formally announce my resignation from Swan Corp., New York branch. And my sister," I looked to the side, telling her to join me in the spotlight, "Rosalie Hale, will be taking my place from now on.

"You see, we received great news a few weeks ago. After so many years of trying to break into the European market, we've finally gotten through. And while Rose will be here, doing a wonderful job… I will be residing in Italy, starting up our first European branch."

As I was explaining to them, I studied their faces: they all started off confused, then some were surprised and some weren't, and then they were smiling. The next thing I knew, everyone burst out into applause.

Carlisle made his way back onto the stage and I handed him the mic I was holding.

"Wonderful, Bella! Congratulations!" he said, hugging me.

"Thank you, Carlisle," my voice was cracking.

I stood off to the side with Rosalie, our arms around each other, while Carlisle spoke.

"Are you okay, Bella?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," I lied.

"…and I have an announcement of my own," Carlisle said, getting everyone's attention, "Edward, son? Will you please join me on stage?"

_Oh no. Please, don't let it be true…_

I stood very still next to Rose and focused my attention on everything else but the man walking towards the stage.

"Tonight, I formally announce my retirement," everyone gasped, "However, I am proud to announce that my son, Edward Anthony Cullen, this man right here, will be taking my place in the company. It's yours, son." And then he embraced Edward.

Edward reluctantly embraced him back and said 'thank you', but I could feel his eyes on me.

As much as I am depressed and angered by what just happened – from the argument he had with Alice, to finding out that he was only using me to get ahead in his work, to hoping that it wasn't all true, to finding out that it actually was…

Some part of me still wished that I had told him what I wanted to tell him earlier, hoping that it would've changed his mind.

* * *

**Yes, I know I got an idea from AWTR. I love the book :D**

**Did you like it? :D**

**R&R, please! :)**

**-MW-**


	13. Chapter Twelve

**I had to edit this to the best of my abilities. Some of the stuff in here didn't go with the rest of the story because this was originally the Prologue, but I decided to make it a chapter.**

**Enjoy! :)**

**-MW-**

* * *

Chapter 12

"Apologize - Silverstein"

**A FEW DAYS LATER.**

Bella POV

"Okay. I'll see you in a few." I said into the phone then snapped it shut. I checked the time to see that it was almost noon.

I sighed and tried to wipe the frustration off of my face. I was sitting in my usual booth at the diner a few blocks away from the company, looking out the window. It was pouring outside and people were running in different directions holding up newspapers and umbrellas to protect their heads from the harsh rain.

I sighed in frustration again, rubbing my temples for the nth time, remembering the events from this morning. My meetings with the board never really took so much out of me but this one in particular, seemed to have completely drained me. I thought I had gotten used to all the business talk even as a child, when my father would take me along with him.

"Dad…" I said, remembering him. He always knew what to say and how to say it. I remembered how He'd always advise me on how to run the company since he retired. He told me that whenever I felt nervous, I should imagine everyone in their underwear. I laughed at his effort to ease my anxiety.

But now, I didn't know what I was going to do. The smart thing in this situation would be to get on a plane, face my new future and never look back. I'd be able to leave everything behind me… right? I felt lost, I thought, bringing my hands together. I needed my dad with me, now especially.

My thoughts were slightly interrupted by a brown cup being placed in front of me.

"Here's your coffee, Bella."

"Thanks, Ang." I said as I tried to give her a smile.

"No problem. Let me know if you need anything else." She smiled sympathetically as she left to continue her shift.

I've been working for my father since my junior year in college. But ever since his death two years ago, a few months after I graduated, his company's been passed down to me, the only living heir to Charles Swan's solid fortune. My father's death was all over the news, and because of that I found it difficult to escape from all the reporters that followed me everywhere.

I'll admit; I wouldn't have been able to run the company properly at that time if I didn't have some help. Okay, a lot of help. I was a mess back then. I had lost my way, which shouldn't have happened because the only thing that was left of my father was put in my hands, and I had so badly wanted to make him proud. I closed my eyes and shook my head, emptying my head of those thoughts.

The diner's door swung open and I heard the sound of heels briskly walking on the tiled surface. The sound echoed throughout the small establishment, probably from the lack of customers. Suddenly I felt the table shake, and I snapped out of my reverie turning my attention to the presence sitting across from me. It was none other than my best friend, Alice Cullen.

Ever since our fathers joined forces, the companies have been doing great business together. Alice wanted nothing to do with it. She explained that she wanted to build a life of her own without having to rely on her family's wealth and connections. She was always into anything fashion-related, so she went to Parson's to study Fashion Design and is now starting her own line.

Alice gave a small sigh, "You're leaving?" I bit my lower lip. It sounded more like a statement rather than a question. I was never as fortunate as Alice to be able to pursue my dreams. Don't get me wrong, I love my dad and I loved working for him as well, but I always did find myself wondering 'What if'.

"Yes." She closed her eyes and nodded her head once.

"When?"

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, preparing myself for whatever extreme reaction she'd have for this, much like anything else, really.

"Three days." I whispered. After a few moments of silence from her, I finally opened my eyes to check if she was alright. Instead of bursting into tears or preparing herself to yell at me, her expression was… solemn. Finally, she broke into a smile.

"You do know what this means, right?" she asked, the smile never leaving her face.

I laughed relieved and pushed my bangs out of my face. "Yes, Alice," I rested my hands on my lap. I was really going to miss this bouncing ball of energy, with her spiky black hair and knowing smile.

"Which is why, I've cleared my schedule for the next two days for some bonding time with you, leaving one more day for me to pack." She laughed, and I already began to feel lighter. This was one of the things I loved about her, she never failed to understand. She offered once to come with me, but I immediately refused because I knew she couldn't stand to be away from her beau Jasper for two days, let alone two years.

Her laughter died down and her face changed into a more serious expression. I've seen that look before and I immediately knew what was coming next.

"Have you spoken to him?" I felt only one emotion when she mentioned _him._ And that very same emotion was what caused me pain in the first place.

"Alice, you know what would happen if—"

"Yes, yes, I know. But, Bella, I've never seen him like this before. The man hasn't stopped working. It's like he's not living anymore, he's just… doing! I don't see any emotion in his eyes and he's been living in that boring office since -- !"

"I know since when!" I raised my voice. I didn't mean to yell but this was still a touchy subject for me. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Bella."

I sighed in frustration. "Al, I really don't know if I'll be able to forgive him for what he did to me..." I sighed and looked at her thoughtfully.

"I fell in love with him."

Her eyes went soft. I knew she already knew this but it was different telling her out loud. "And he fell in love with you."

"Then why did he do what he did?" I whispered. This time, she was the one to sigh in frustration.

"You know, you're a lot like him in the sense that you're both extremely stubborn. Bella, please, he's really sorry."

"I think this will be good for the both of us, Al. This will be."

"The worst mistake ever, if you ask me." I laughed a little. It was silent for a moment after that. I looked out the window again, the rain was beginning die down a little. Suddenly my phone vibrated on the table, I looked at the message.

"I'm sorry, Ali, I have to go." I said getting up.

She sighed and rose as well. "Bella, I will tell you right now that I think this is a big mistake. No, I know it. You two belong together…" She trailed off after seeing the look on my face. I walked out of the diner opening my umbrella and was soon joined by Alice beside me opening her umbrella as well.

"Oh, alright! But we are so hanging out tomorrow. I cannot believe we only have three days until you have to move to Italy!"

"It's only two years. I'll be back before you know it!" I promised, checking my phone for the time again.

She snorted and rolled her eyes. "Right, easy for you to say. I'll be here in boring old New York, while you'll be in Italy." She said with a dreamy look in her eyes.

"Italy, Bella! Think of the gorgeous guys! The sights! The fashion! The fashion, Bella!" she cried.

"I will make sure to send you something every month, Ali." I said kissing her cheek.

"I'll hold you to that. I'm going left. See you, Bella! Tell Rose I said hi!"

"Will do!" I said turning the other way.

I was on my way back to the company to tie up some loose ends before I finalized my trip to Italy in three days. The walk back wasn't too far, and it gave me enough time alone for my thoughts. I stopped at a newsstand, looking for a Reader's Digest when a headline caught my eye.

**SWAN CORP.'S NEW HEAD**

"**During the Annual Charity Ball hosted by Swan Corp. Rosalie Hale, adopted daughter of CEO Charles Swan, was officially named Swan Corp.'s new head to take charge of the New York branch before Isabella Swan, daughter of former CEO Charles Swan, announced her plans for departure to the Italy branch of the company in such a short time. It was a shock to us all…"**

I smiled. Rose was going to do a great job here. I knew I could trust her.

"Nothing new here, Joe?" I asked. Joe was the owner of the newsstand. He was a little round and small man. He had a wife beater under a leather jacket on and was smoking on a cigar. He always knew what I was looking for and always kept one for me in case he ran out of stock.

"Nah. Just some stuff that was released last week. Those suppliers sure make it hard to run a business." He said in his deep voice, letting the smoke out from when he inhaled his cigar.

I wrinkled my nose in disgust, "You know you're sucking on a cancer stick, right?" I've been trying to convince him to quit smoking for two years now. But he always replied with the same thing,

"I'm old, doll, I've lived my life. You, on the other hand, are too young to be running a multi-million dollar company all by yourself." I stuck my tongue out at him in a childish manner, not having a comeback for that. Joe just laughed it off.

Just as I was about to leave, I saw another headline that should have given me more reason to leave in three days. But I wasn't sure what to think. Actually, I wasn't sure if I was thinking at all.

**CULLEN HEIR NAMED**

**Edward Cullen: after all this time, he finally got what he wanted.**

"**Carlisle Cullen, CEO of Cullen Corp., formally announced his retirement at the Annual Charity Ball, but at the same time gave the position to his son, Edward. His involvement in the company will immediately begin…"**

It took me a moment to realize that I was staring at his picture. I couldn't tell you what I was feeling at that very moment or what time of day it was. All I remembered was that night, at the charity…

_-FLASHBACK-_

_We were in the middle of the dance floor, swaying to the music being played. He held my right hand to where his heart was and looked intently into my eyes. _

"_It's yours, if you want it."I blushed and my heartbeat picked up after hearing those words, and I swore that he could hear it because his mouth broke into that crooked grin I loved so much. _

_-END FLASHBACK-_

I shook my head, clearing it of those memories. I missed him. I miss him. I won't deny that there wasn't anything there because there was. I fell in love, and according to Alice, he loves me too. I laughed at that and thought. Alice really wants me to stay, doesn't she?

I turned to his headshot in the paper one more time, my own way of saying goodbye to him – the messy bronze hair he could never tame, the mouth with those lips that weren't curved up at the ends that should have formed a smile, or a smirk at the very least. I saved his eyes for last knowing that I wouldn't be able to resist once I looked into them, even if it was just a picture. They had the same effect on me, but incomparable to the strength the real ones had. I remember the first time I looked him in the eyes.

_-FLASHBACK-_

"_What do you mean the Seattle branch has no money?!" I yelled into the earpiece. Today was the most important day of the month because today, I had a very important meeting with the CEO of Cullen Corp. Just like my dad had started. Yet here I am, in my father's old office, pacing in front of his desk, trying not to pull my hair out. I bet it looked like a bird's nest right about now._

"_No! You better find out what happened over there! Or so help me God I will--!!!" The person on the other end was trying to explain. I really disliked dealing with incompetent people. I thought I'd heard a knock on the door, but maybe that was just my head throbbing from all this stress, so I ignored it._

"_Fine! Then get HIM on the phone!" I waited. "NOW!!!" I slammed the earpiece on the wooden desk. I pressed a button on the telephone near the edge of the desk. "Jessica! Tell Seattle to call me when they get everything straightened out!"_

"_Yes, Ms. Swan!"_

"_Thank you." I sighed. Today was not my day. I made my way across the room towards the door. I reached for the handle when someone on the other side beat me to it. Now, I don't know about you, but after this incident, I'd personally prefer it if most doors opened outwards instead. _

_The door swung inwards with such force that it slammed into my forehead and knocked me back. I fell and landed on one side of the couch near it, holding on to the arm to keep myself up._

"_Ow!"_

"_I am so sorry!" a velvety voice said. Holding my forehead, I looked up into the most hypnotizing green eyes I have ever seen. I could not stop staring into those eyes. It's like they held in them all the secrets of the world, and I was just dying to find out. Then I noticed the hair, the cheekbones, the shape of his eyebrows that were bent down with worry – everything about this man was beautiful, even when he was showing negative emotion on his face._

_He was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen._

_-END FLASHBACK-_

"You finally got it. Congratulations." I said to his picture.

It took a lot, but I finally tore my eyes away, shielding my vision of his perfect face. Then I finally made my way to Swan Corp.

As I was walking towards my destination, I looked at my surroundings. I'd miss this place, mainly for the familiarity. But all the same, I will always hold a special place in my heart for New York. I stopped right outside the entrance, taking everything in one last time. I took a deep breath and made my way up to my office.

I looked around the room, trying to memorize every inch and reminding myself to have my office in Italy look just like this one. Everything in here held a special memory for me: the couch that could never have enough space for Emmett, the massive bookshelf filled with my favorite books and pictures of my friends and family, the few plants that Alice brought in here to lighten up the place, and the door that Edward walked through the first time I saw him –

_*Knock knock knock*_

My head shot up at once. This cannot be happening.

"Bella?" I tensed, then relaxed as soon as I saw that it was just Rosalie.

"Yeah?"

"It's time." She smiled. I knew how excited she was for this, and I couldn't have picked anyone better to handle this place while I was gone.

I smiled back at her. "Are you ready?" she asked me.

The multiple meanings that that question held for me started swimming around in my head. Was I ready to officially hand Swan Corp., New York over to Rosalie? Was I ready to leave? Was I ready to move on? Was I ready to leave Edward behind? All of these questions, and no answers yet. I wouldn't know when I'd be really sure if I was ready. And then…

"Yeah, I am."

I can do this.

I will do this.

No turning back now.

* * *

**R&R, please! :)**

**-MW-**


	14. Chapter Thirteen

**I had to put this in... like a filler. But I think it's okay.**

**Enjoy! :)**

**-MW-**

* * *

Chapter 12

"When I Grow Up – Mayday Parade"

"Apologize – Silverstein"

"Ice Box – There For Tomorrow"

"The Man Who Can't Be Moved – The Script"

"Avalanche – Marie Digby"

Alice POV

I knocked on the door and waited for an answer.

The night of the Ball was… awful, to say the least. I really could not believe that Edward had the nerve to do that to Bella! After all he's been through, has he learned nothing? Bella had real feelings for him, and he had to go and do something stupid!

I sighed and knocked on the door again.

"It's already past noon. Why isn't he answering?"

I kept knocking on the door until finally it opened, only to reveal a haggard-looking Edward. His hair was messier than it usually was, he had dark bruise-like circles under his eyes and he looked like he never left his bed. Really.

"Can I come in?"

He said nothing and continued to stare at me with his half-closed eyes.

I sighed in frustration and raised my eyebrow.

"Edward, I want to talk to you."

He continued to stare at me and then stepped to the side to let me in. I walked into his room, arms folded, only to see that his curtains were closed, his bed hadn't been made, his tuxedo from the Ball was hung over his couch and his only source of light was his bedside lamp.

I wrinkled my face in disgust and made a mental note to have a maid clean his room up once I got him out of the house.

"Is there something you want?" he said with an annoyed tone.

My head snapped in his direction.

"Look," I started to walk towards him, "what you did wasn't right, Edward."

"You already gave me this sermon, _Alice_, I don't need another one."

"Do you really feel no remorse?!"

"What does _this _– " he motioned with his hands to himself and his room, " – look like to you?!"

"It looks like you haven't cleaned up for two days."

"Thank you, Captain Obvious." He said, rolling his eyes.

"If anyone gets to be mad here, it's Bella. You really hurt her, Edward! And I already warned you before, didn't I?"

"I know that, Alice! I know I hurt her! And I know what Jacob did to her! But _I'm-not-him_! I…"

"You know that this is going to give her more of a reason to leave, right?" I reminded him.

"She would have left no matter what." He said.

"No, that's where you're wrong."

He looked at me, with a slightly confused expression on his face.

"You changed her," I admitted, "The day of the Ball," he winced, "when we were in my studio… We were fitting our gowns. And then Rose brought out her camera and started taking pictures with Bella."

I walked to his curtains and pulled them open, letting in the sunlight.

"She was laughing, and posing – having fun. She was never like that," I turned to face him, "until you came along."

His eyes softened at hearing this and he sat down on the edge of his bed with his head in his hands. I walked over and sat down next to him, putting my arms around him.

I pulled his face up so that he was looking at me.

"Did you really care for her, Edward?" I asked with no trace of humor in my voice.

He sat up straight and looked me in the eyes.

"I love her."

There was something different about him. And after a moment of trying to figure out what it was, I knew:

It was the look in his eyes. That same look he had when he was with her last night. I recognized it because that was the very same way that I sometimes saw in Jasper's eyes when he looked at me. It was full of nothing but pure, honest love. Nothing in the world could be stronger than that.

"I believe you."

"Thank you, Alice…"

I sighed and sat back further onto his bed, letting my legs dangle.

"Have you talked to her?"

"I've been calling her ever since she ran out of the ballroom with Rosalie. She's either not answering or she's got her phone turned off."

I snorted at this. Boys really can be so obtuse.

"There are other ways to talk to her, brother. Like _actually _seeing her, you know?"

"You know that can't happen." He stated simply.

"Oh, right… There's Rose _and_ Jasper." I mumbled, "But don't worry about Jazzy, I can think of a few distractions…"

"Alice! _Please!_ Don't even go there!" he said, making a face and shielding his eyes.

I started to laugh at this and then soon enough, he joined me in my laughter.

It was good to see him smiling and happy again. Edward was always a serious person, and he never really laughed like this a lot. It was very rare, so I was going to take what I can get.

The laughter died down and we were basking in the silence when he decided to be the first to speak.

"Is she alright?"

"She's been busy… You know, with the big move and all."

"Right, to Italy…"

"Yup." I said, popping the 'P'.

It was silent again and all that could be heard was the sounds coming from the kitchen downstairs and Edward scratching the back of his head.

"Are you really not going to do anything?" I asked him.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, something he did when he was frustrated, I noticed.

"Alice, even if I do go over there and talk to her, that won't stop her from leaving."

"I know that, but at least she won't leave here on bad terms with you."

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair again.

"She doesn't want to talk to me."

"How do you know that?" I countered.

"Because! Look what I did to her, Alice! She does not want to talk to me!"

"Let me tell you something, Edward," I was hoping that I wouldn't have to resort to this…

"Bella will want to talk to you."

"You don't know that." He said quietly.

"Yes, I do, because Jasper and I went through almost the same thing a while back."

He looked at me incredulously.

"You and Jasper?"

I took a deep breath and began with my story.

"It was early into college at NYU. We've known each other since we were kids, so it was inevitable that we'd start dating. But I already knew he was The One. So, one night after he took me to dinner…" This is so not something your older brother would want to hear, "We had sex."

"Alice – "

"Edward, let me finish. That didn't change our relationship one bit. He still treated me the same way and he told me he loved me, and I told him I did too.

"A few weeks later, I went out with Bella and Rose. Bella was wearing these white shorts and…" I saw him with a look on his face, "This is part of it, I promise."

"So, she was wearing these white shorts, and then I saw the stain behind her," Edward nodded once.

"So, she started freaking out. Rose and I found it funny at first, but then I realized that I must have it too because I always have it a day or two earlier than she does. When I got home, I checked just to be sure, and then I didn't see anything.

"I shook it off and went out with Jasper that night. The next day, I woke up with a start and ran to the bathroom, and I started puking…" I looked to see if he was still listening, he looked like he was getting angry.

"I didn't know what to do. So I called Bella and Rose, they came over with a pregnancy test but I didn't want to take it. I was too scared to even find out if I was pregnant or not. We started arguing and then the next thing I knew, everything went black… I woke up and they were still there, they told me I was out for a couple of minutes. And then they convinced me to tell Jasper about it.

"Jasper and I started fighting about it. He asked me if anybody else knew, I told him it was only Bella and Rose. He looked… relieved."

_-FLASHBACK-_

"_So what if people knew about it?!" I yelled at him._

"_Alice, we just barely started college! I don't think now is a good time to be having a baby!"_

"_I know that! But _so what_ if people _knew_?! Would you really be ashamed of it?? Of me??"_

"_Alice, I… That's not what I meant."_

"_What, so, just because your girlfriend suddenly got pregnant, you're going to just leave?!"_

"_Alice, I'm not going to leave you!"_

"_Yeah, because Bella's your sister, right? You'd _never_ hurt _her._" I said dryly, "But what if she wasn't, Jazz? What if she never introduced us to each other? What then?!"_

"_I am not ready to raise a child, Alice!"_

"_And you think I am?! You're not the one who's going to have to walk around carrying the evidence under your shirt, Jasper!"_

"_So, then get rid of it!"_

"_You think I haven't thought of that already?!"_

"_Then why don't you just do it!"_

"_Because it's WRONG, Jasper, it's WRONG! God! You are… You're such a bastard!"_

"_And so will this kid be, Alice, because I'm not going to stick around and watch you ruin both our lives!"_

_This shocked me a lot. We weren't ready for this, I knew that, but he looked really serious when he said that._

_-END FLASHBACK-_

"Then I went home to Forks to stay with grandpa Marcus for a while. I was so… mad at him. I cried every night I was in Forks. I was hurting so bad and Jazz was the only one who could make me feel better."

"How…? Why? He was going to leave you, Alice."

I smiled at him and gave him one answer.

"Because I love him."

It was that simple.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Well, I had to go back for school. So I got on the next flight to New York, and when I was looking for a cab, Jazz was there." I smiled, remembering that day, "You can guess what happened next."

"Did you get rid of it?"

"See, that's the funny thing, I was never pregnant. I got my period the next day and the restaurant we went to that night was shut down because apparently, most of the customers had food poisoning. I guess I was one of them." I said, smiling to myself.

"My point is, Edward, Bella will want to see you just as much as she probably hates you. I guarantee it. Whether she knows it or not, she needs you right now."

He suddenly stood up and walked into his closet and came out with some new clothes on.

"Where are you going?" I asked him.

"To dad. There's something I need to ask him."

He stopped halfway through his door and looked back at me with a smile.

"Thank you, Alice." I smiled back at him.

"You're welcome."

* * *

Edward POV

"I think it's brilliant, son! But… Are you sure about this?"

_Whether she knows it or not, she needs you right now._

"Yes, I am."

"Alright, then…" he said, hesitantly, "I'll let them know."

"Thanks, dad."

* * *

**Ooooohhhh what was THAT? XD**

**R&R, please! :)**

**-MW-**


	15. Chapter Fourteen LAST CHAPTER

**Last chapter!**

**Enjoy!:)**

**-MW-**

* * *

Chapter 14

"You Make It Real For Me – James Morrison"

Bella POV

"We'll miss you, Bella!"

"I'll miss you too." I said.

They just announced that my flight was ready and passengers could enter the plane already. I stood there, hugging my practically-already-family , not knowing when I'm going to see them again.

"Call us when you land." Rose said.

"Yeah, and make sure you don't leave anything on the plane! Remember when we went to the Caribbean?" Jasper said, giving Alice a look..

We all laughed, remembering how Alice left her purse and her carry-on in the plane, making Jasper run back to the plane and stop it before it took off.

"I won't." I promised.

"Don't ride those boats that only go in that river, what was that… They're so small! I went on vacation there a couple of years ago and I kept falling in!" Emmett cried.

We all laughed at him and he just had a totally serious look on his face, wondering why we found it so funny. Not even being in a completely foreign country could be a big enough adventure for Emmett.

"Oh, and don't forget, I asked one of my designer friends in Italy to pick you up when you land, so at least you'll know someone over there. His name's Felipe." Alice said.

"Thank you, Alice." I smiled at her.

"Have you spoken to him?" Rose asked me in a quiet voice.

Everybody fell silent, eyes on me, waiting for my answer. I shook my head.

"No."

"Last call for all first-class passengers of Flight Number 913 to Venice, Italy." A voice called through the speakers.

"I guess that's me." I hugged each one of them individually this time, saying my last goodbyes.

"Rose, take care of the company for me, okay?"

"I will."

"And, Emmett, try not to distract her so much. She's got more responsibilities now."

Emmett just laughed while Rose blushed.

"Take care of yourself, Bella." Jasper said.

"Jasper…" I hugged him, "Thank you, for everything. I love you, bro."

"I love you too, sis."

We pulled apart and I tried to not let the tears flow before I reached Alice, but to no avail, we both started crying and hugged each other tightly.

"I'll miss you, Ali."

"I'll miss you too."

"Try not to give Jasper a hard time, okay?" I said, half-heartedly.

"You know I won't do that." She joked.

"Yeah, I know…"

"I love you, Bella, don't ever forget me. Not even for a day."

"Never, Ali, never."

I picked up my carry-on and slowly, reluctantly made my way to the entrance. I took one last look at the four of them, standing a few feet behind me, memorizing each of their faces.

Italy, here I come.

* * *

Alice POV

"Is everything ready, Ali?" Jasper asked from beside me.

But before I could answer him, my phone rang and I immediately answered it, I already knew who it was.

"_Is she on the plane?"_ the voice on the other end asked.

"She just boarded. I told her you'd be picking her up."

"_Alright. I've already got everything settled here."_

"That's great."

"_So, she'll be arriving here tomorrow morning, right?"_

"Yup. Seven-thirty."

"_I'll be there."_

I snapped the phone shut and turned to Jasper again, smiling up at him.

"Everything's set."

* * *

Bella POV

You wanna know what I keep thinking about?

That night at the Ball when I was about to tell Edward that I loved him.

I was walking towards him and I could feel confidence surging through me. For once in my life, I wasn't afraid to do something. I didn't see any reason for me to be afraid.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have officially landed in Venice, Italy. It is now Seven-thirty in the morning. We hope you had a pleasant experience with us! Have a nice morning!"

_Finally._

I unbuckled my seatbelt and stood up to grab my bags from the compartment above me, waiting for my turn to exit the plane.

"Thank you for flying with us, ma'am, have a nice day!" a stewardess greeted me.

"Thank you." I smiled back at her.

-

I ran as fast as I could with my cart to the baggage claim so that I wouldn't be run over by people, and thankfully, I got there just in time. As soon as I had my luggage, everyone started coming to the claim and crowding around to get their bags as well.

Then I made my way towards the main entrance of the airport.

"Felipe, Felipe, Felipe… Felipe… Hm… He should have a sign…"

I was looking around the airport for Alice's designer friend, Felipe. She never did tell me what he looked like, so I was stuck here with the trouble of trying to find this Felipe-guy, with nothing as a clue to what he looked like.

I saw a group of people standing outside the automatic glass doors, holding up little cardboard and whiteboard signs with the names of the person their supposed to be here for.

I went outside, pushing my cart, and made my way towards the people. I searched for my name and then I finally saw it.

"**Bella Swan, New York"**

A middle-aged man was holding it. He was wearing an all-black outfit and had a beard.

I sighed and walked towards him, a smile formed on my face. This guy just saved me a lot of time for wandering around aimlessly.

"Hi, I'm Bella Swan. Are you Felipe?"

"Yes, hello Bella," he greeted in his thick Italian accent, "right this way please."

He took my cart for me and led the way to the car while I walked right behind him. I noticed that I had a lot of luggage with me. Alice made me pack every single thing in my closet and then begged me to go shopping for more clothes. They were all stacked so high that I couldn't see what was in front of me, and I had to wonder how Felipe could know where he was walking.

We were approaching the car when I saw Felipe make his way to the back to put my luggage in the trunk, and then I stopped dead in my tracks at the sight before me.

"What are you doing here?" I whispered, but I knew he could hear me.

He walked towards me.

"Picking you up. Medium French vanilla with a little whipped cream, right?" he held out the cup in front of me.

"Edward." I warned him.

He stopped right in front of me, his eyes doing that smoldering thing again.

We were staring at each other for what seemed like a long time before his face broke into a smile and he spoke,

"The company's opening a branch here in Italy. They've already approved and we start construction the same day as you do. Actually, we'll be sharing a building."

Are you kidding me? Not only is the man I am trying to get away from here, right in front of me, but I'm going to be seeing him _every_ single day?

Wait a minute.

"Excuse me?" I said incredulously.

His smile turned into that crooked grin I loved so much.

"Well, I wasn't going to live without you." He said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Tears started to form behind my eyes and I had to look at the ground to hide them.

"I'm so sorry, Bella… for everything. I wish there were some way to explain to you without making it sound like a bunch of excuses."

The tears were flowing now, and on top of that, I was holding my breath so he wouldn't hear me cry.

I finally looked up at him, wiping my face and letting a few sobs escape.

"Are you here to torture me? You're here to use me some more? Then I'm sorry to disappoint you because, really, Edward, I don't think I have anything left that can be used."

"Bella, please believe me. That's not why – "

"Why are you _here_?"

His eyes grew soft and he titled his head just a fraction to the left, making his hair bounce lightly. He placed the coffee – which was probably cold now – on top of the car and took my hands in his.

I didn't pull away.

"Because I wanna take you on a date. A real date. The kind where _I _actually ask _you_. And I don't care if you come home late from work because I'm going to wait for you, no matter how long it takes. And I want to talk about cars with you because you're the only girl I know that has a real interest in them. And I just want to hear you talk, I want to hear your voice all the time. And I want to be the only one to make you do this…" he brushed his hand across my cheek, and I immediately felt the heat forming there.

"Because I love the color on you. I want to hug you anytime I want and kiss you and hold hands with you… And someday, I want to marry you, Bella. I want to have kids with you and a big house and… everything. I want everything with you."

I let out a short laugh. Here he was, pouring his heart out to me, and I laugh… because of the innocence of it. How something so simple can make me feel like I have everything I needed right in front of me.

I looked him directly in the eyes, making sure that he completely understood what I was going to say next.

"I love you."

The corners of his mouth slowly turned upward – this was one of those smiles that reached all the way up to his eyes. And then he leaned in and kissed me softly.

It wasn't that long, and it definitely wasn't like those heated kinds of kisses that you see in TV shows nowadays, but it was incredible in its own way. And all I could remember was the look in his eyes before the moment our lips first touched. Though I couldn't quite put my finger on it…

I have never felt weaker in my entire life. But it was a good kind of weaker. The kind that made your insides all warm and can only be described as so peaceful yet at the same time so uncontrollably phenomenal.

He rested his forehead on mine with his eyes closed, and we just stood there in the parking lot like that, listening to the sounds of our breathing.

He opened his eyes and I saw that same look again, the one he had before we kissed.

"I love you, Bella."

I smiled at him, realization dawning upon me.

That was it. Love.

_Well, duh, what else would it be?_

You again?

_You can't get rid of me that easily. Actually, you can't get rid of me at all._

I figured as much…

_So, how does it feel finally being with lover boy over here?_

What are you talking about? I love him.

_Yeah, I got that. But are you sure about this?_

You know, I should really have brain surgery or something. Maybe I can finally get you out of my head.

_You can't get rid – just answer the question._

I kissed him again, longer this time, and looked at every inch of his face, saving his eyes for last. They were still the same green orbs I'd seen that day when he slammed the door on me – literally.

I smiled, remembering that day, and was suddenly so grateful for doors that opened inwards.

Yes, by the way, I am sure.

I have never been more sure of anything in my entire life.

* * *

**And this is where "It Takes Two" ends.**

**I hope you all enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it...**

**I'm already working on something new, so stay tuned! ;)**

**-MW**-


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